50 Posts for 50 Years of USNA — Post [18] My roommate and I were not leaders. At least not officially. In my senior year at the Naval Academy, we were ranked dead last in our peer group for leadership positions. She was second to last. I was last. We had both endured our share of come-arounds as plebes, and neither of us was particularly motivated to inflict on others what we had resented receiving.…
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The White Chit on the Door
Published May 11, 2026
On hospital corners, room inspections, and the note that stopped my heart — then filled it. Before I was anything else at the US Naval Academy, I was a steward of a small rectangle of space, my room. The room inspection chit taught me things I never would have thought to wonder about. How to make a bed with hospital corners. How to stow your gear left to right, dark to white. Nothing adrift. Nothing…
Leave a CommentSailing Directions
Published March 16, 2026
I’ve already admitted in an earlier post that I was not a great sailor. Sensing the wind never came naturally to me. Some people could feel it instinctively, the subtle shifts that told them how to trim the sails or change course. I could learn the mechanics, but the wind itself never quite spoke to me. What I did learn was another kind of navigation. I learned to read a room. I learned when to…
2 CommentsCool Ray
Published March 9, 2026
If you read my last post, you might remember that my regular glasses were resting somewhere at the bottom of Santee Basin on the Severn River. That left me with one option: the prescription sunglasses my mother had dropped off so I could see. Now, wearing sunglasses in uniform may not sound like a big deal. But at the Naval Academy in 1977, it absolutely was. I was the only person in the Yard wearing…
3 Comments“Does Size Matter?” and Other Questions I Don’t Really Want to Answer
Published May 19, 2025
This past week, with Mother’s Day, I was asked (again):“What’s it like having nine kids?” Now, let’s be clear. Size does not matter. But it can sure feel like it does. Large families tend to invite wide-eyed questions, whispered comments in the grocery line, or nods of awe, as if I climbed Everest with a baby carrier. I get it. Nine is not subtle. But I never chased a number. I wasn’t collecting children like…
5 CommentsThe Connecting Cap
Published March 3, 2025
I was eager to return home after a week on the West Coast. The early morning ride, the shuffle through security, and the familiar ritual of finding my gate with a book in hand were all part of the journey. Travel is never just about the logistics—it’s about the people we meet along the way. A delay and gate change brought me to Gate N3, where I settled in and took a moment to notice…
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