JBR
jbred56.bsky.social
JBR
@jbred56.bsky.social

Truly humbled by the extraordinary talent and intellect of the NIH scientists and grateful for the science/biomedical research funded by NIH that has given so many a second chance in life.
“She who must be obeyed,” lovingly referred to as by M.
Found this newsletter that belonged to my father, an “Island hopping” veteran of WWII. The newsletter offered interesting advice to the soldiers upon returning home. Believe it was meant to be taken lightly. My dad talked a lot about this voyage home, none of it good.
February 15, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Sóla’s Sunday AM walk: 34/73%/1MPHNE. Dogs:8; Runners:2(1w/lab). We met a lady walking a Belgian Griffon in need of grooming. Looked like a blond mop. Lots of icy places along the walk. Discussion: flooding that will occur later today from heavy rains. Low-flying aircraft-low ceiling. #Dogsofbluesky
February 15, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Sóla’s Saturday AM walk: 26/57%/5MPHSW. Dogs:20; Runners:2; Foxes:1. Had a wonderful walk today - M made found a way to put the new chains on my Oboz. The fox is healthy. So cool to see them. Many birds are singing now. Irish oatmeal- Saturday breakfast. Glass class- Working Deep. #Dogsofbluesky.
February 14, 2026 at 2:15 PM
45 years ago today, first date, dinner at my apartment on Ashley Ave., Charleston, SC. Brandenburg Concerto No.4. on LP. M walked in and identified it straight off. I thought, my God, someone who might fit in w/my musical family. We swim in different pools of sound. M is 💯 classical music.
February 14, 2026 at 12:13 PM
The “Rain on Wayne” concert on the National Mall, July 4, 1983. The plastic bag used as a rain coat did not help. Blast from the past photo.
February 13, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Sóla’s Friday AM walk: 26/65%/7MPHNW. Dogs:4; Runners:1. Ice, clear ice everywhere. New Yak traks do not fit my boots-had to cross snow/ice in Sorels w/sticks. Worked on the mosaic most of yesterday & did not make dinner. Got lucky as M & colleagues took a guest out for dinner. #Dogsofbluesky
February 13, 2026 at 1:35 PM
My grandfather’s blue grass band in France. He continued playing in a blue grass band after WWI ended and would appear weekly live on the radio in Greenville, SC. He was a gifted musician, made three instruments: banjo, mandolin, ukulele and he played all three + the fiddle. Musical family.
February 12, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Banjo box, the fallen heart, a collapsed ice building and bad bunny in shrubbery. My grandfather made a banjo out of bullets and played in a blue grass band during WWI when he was posted to Brest, France. He was in the quartermaster corps and built barracks and bridges in Brest.
February 12, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Sóla’s Thursday AM walk: 30/65%/11MPHNW. Dogs:8. Path/trail conditions are treacherous after thaw/refreeze. Students have fallen multiple times while walking to school and we saw one fall this AM. Ice building is heap of fallen blocks. Making 4 cheese frittata for dinner tonight. #Dogsofbluesky
February 12, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Sóla’s Wednesday AM walk: 40/73%/9MPHNW. Dogs:10; Runners:3. The big melt is underway which made the snow traverse difficult. Noticed: multiple species of birds singing and/or carrying on convos. The ice building has crumbled on one side. Was tropical today. #Dogsofbluesky
February 11, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Sóla’s Tuesday AM walk: 26F/75%/4MPHESE. Dogs:6; Foxes:2; Deer:2. One fox was well fed with a thick bushy tail. The other was thin with a mangy looking tail. The deer were doe w/young. Felt tropical today - we both broke out in a sweat and Sóla had a great time running in the snow. #Dogsofbluesky
February 10, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Sóla’s Monday AM walk: 11F/65%/4MPHNW. Dogs:4; Runners:1. Came home late yesterday from glass studio to Cincinnati chili and homemade guacamole. M also made a huge batch of bolognese to put in freezer. House smelled like a restaurant. Watched Bad Bunny- was an amazing halftime show. #Dogsofbluesky.
February 9, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Woke up to these headlines:

Senator Ossoff, “The Epstein class is ruling our country.”

Bad Bunny, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

I have a little bit of hope that the US will course correct.

We the people.
February 9, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Sóla’s Sunday AM walk: 16(feels like 7)/61%/13MPHNNW. Dogs:10; Runners:1(w/lab). It is good to be alive on this cold day. M, “I met a traveler from an antique land, Who said-‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.’” Ozymandias, P.B.Shelley. We like poetry here. #Dogsofbluesky
February 8, 2026 at 2:55 PM
To Sóla I say, “What need have you to fear the monstrous crying of the wind.” To a Child Dancing in the wind, W.B. Yeats. When you are married to an Irishman, these things come to you. It is pretty windy here, and things are bumping into the house. Sóla is barking at the sound of the wind.
February 8, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Sóla’s Saturday AM walk: 13(feels like -10)/63%/21MPHNW. Me: deer tracks. M: unless there are dip sticks. Me: What? M: Thick sticks. Me: spell it. M: Dik Diks. Me: what is that? M: little antelopes in Africa. Mercy, it was a cold wind that blew thru the neighborhood streets/canyons. #Dogsofbluesky
February 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Saturday morning with brutally cold temp, dangerously high winds and a dog begging to be walked. She will prevail, as always. Blasting “Jumper”, Third Eye Blind, to wake the house.
February 7, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Heart of ice, Champlain Medical Bldg, Bethesda.
February 6, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Sóla’s Friday AM walk: 18/77%/2MPHWSW. Dogs:8; Runners:3; Deer:6. Going to work on my stained glass mosaic (design from Ravenna) today. Must blast music, dance and sing like no one is watching or listening. It is good glass therapy and Sóla does not mind. #Dogsofbluesky
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Sóla’s Thursday AM walk: 13/78%/4MPHN. Dogs:5; Runners:1(w/Visla); Cyclist:1. Todays’s song, Torn, Natalie Imbruglia. The implosion of the WaPo; the destruction of the WH East Wing; the renaming/make-over of the Kennedy Ctr; possible building of an Arc de Trump. I’m free falling now. #Dogsofbluesky
February 5, 2026 at 1:37 PM
The salute at Blacksod, West coast of Ireland. September, 2017. From favorite photos.
February 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
To my WaPo friends in the DMV-What pisses me off, I mean really pisses me off, in addition to all the other shyte going on r/n is how Bezos paid for the trashy Melania film, paid for his Venetian trash wedding, & paid for the WaPo, a decent newspaper, only to destroy it later. He peed in our pool.
February 4, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Sóla’s Wednesday AM walk: 28/77%/5MPHN. Dogs:10; Runners:1. State of the neigh: The thaw has begun. Melted ice refroze o/n to create slick spots. MoCo cut thru many snow berms to help school kids walk safely. Snow forts have all failed except for the ice building - still in good nick. #Dogsofbluesky
February 4, 2026 at 1:33 PM
The “v” experience of our PM walk yesterday. Before the v was cut, dog and dog walker had to walk on the busy street with city buses, trucks and cars flying by, to circumvent the snow berm. Dog is here now begging for her AM walk. Time to blast Grazing in the Grass.
February 4, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Feb 3, 2017, trip to the Langjökull glacier in W Iceland with @tmr65.bsky.social Not too different from here for the past few weeks. Actually, it was warmer there than it has been here. Really miss Iceland.
February 4, 2026 at 12:16 AM