Hmmmm... Spring has, apparently, "sprung" here in beautiful metropolitan Ferncliff, Virginia where our one traffic light continues to blink red one way and yellow in the other direction. The horses are snorting (probably because of all the pollen), the cows are lowing and the "little birdies machen melodies"- much to the amusement of my cats. The possum (or possums- not sure I'm always looking at the same one) has come out of that weird partial hibernation and has joined the cats for meals. My stone-deaf Border Collie, Roger, takes it all in stride and has taken to staying outside longer and eating his food leisurely- one morsel at a time- and just surveying his turf.

I'm back to mowing... changed the blades, oil, oil filter and fuel filter on the 48" Husqvarna and have had her out for the initial cut... whew. Using the mower as a "bush hog"- rough going but got it done. Am going to take a friend's advice this year and cut at 3 1/2" instead of 2 1/2"- hoping that the grass will, eventually, choke out the weeds. I'll have to cut more often but the cutting should go quickly.

Barreling toward May, when I'll have some meaningful vacation EXCEPT I'm having to work the 4th, 5th and 6th which, as luck would have it, is my 40th Class Reunion at Fork Union Military Academy. Damn, damn, damn... I would like to go to that- at least for the parade on the 6th. In the letter they sent, 12 of my classmates have died, which is why they opted for a 40th reunion instead of the more traditional 50th- in case the rest of us dropped dead. Oh well, "no one expects the Spanish Inquisition". I'm going to continue to try to get that day off.

Have added a book to the library, "Checka- Soviet Secret Police Awards 1917-1995" by Cdr. Robert Pandis. A very informative work- especially about the various "egg" badges associated with the Soviet Internal Ministry. I recommend it to all. Have also added a few items to my ever growing PMR collection... a 20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces medal and a couple of Bendery UVD badges. Also managed to find a Romanian "For Militia Merit" badge from the RPR (1947-1965) period. These have been added to my galleries here- have a look. Oh, by the way, does anyone, other than me, know what the "PMR" is? This may be a good topic for a future blog entry.

I guess that's all for now as I have to prepare for work tomorrow.

Take Care,
Greg