Pyrrhic victory, a success that brings such significant harm to the victor that it differs little from defeat.  Although the triumphant party in a Pyrrhic victory is considered the overall winner, the costs incurred and their future repercussions diminish the sense of genuine success.  It is sometimes known as a hollow victory.  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pyrrhic-victory   

Pyrrhus (319/318–272 BC) was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period.  He was king of the Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became king (Malalas also called him toparch) of Epirus.  He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome, and had been regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity.  Several of his victorious battles caused him unacceptably heavy losses, from which the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" was coined.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus#   

The Battle of Agincourt was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War.  It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops against the French army boosted English morale and prestige, crippled France, and started a new period of English dominance in the war.  That advantage lasted for 14 years, until England was defeated by France in 1429 during the Siege of Orléans.  After several decades of relative peace, the English had resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French.  In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army.  Despite their numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt    

March 20 is UN French Language Day, one of six such days established by UNESCO to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and to promote the equal use of its working languages.  The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (International Organization of the French-speaking World) was founded on this day in 1970.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/d%C3%A9tente#English    

While the Nordic countries have long dominated the World Happiness Report, 2026 brought one surprise.  For the first time in the report's 14-year history, a Latin American country made its way into the top five as Costa Rica continued its multi-year rise to fourth place, jumping from 23rd in 2023.  The rankings, produced annually by Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, are based on a three-year average of how residents in 140 countries rate their own lives alongside factors such as GDP, social support, life expectancy, perceived freedom, generosity and corruption.  For the second year in a row, no major English-speaking countries made the top 10, with Australia at 15th, the United States at 23rd, Canada at 25th and the UK at 29th.  See the list including #1 Finland, and #2 Iceland at https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260317-the-worlds-happiest-countries-for-2026   

March 20, 2026

Tana French (born 10 May 1973) is an American-Irish writer and theatrical actress.  She is a resident of Dublin, Ireland.  Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel.  The Independent has called her "the First Lady of Irish Crime".  Tana Elizabeth French was born in Burlington, Vermont to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French.  Her father was an economist who worked on resource management for the developing world, and she lived in numerous countries as a child, including Ireland, Italy, the United States and Malawi.   French attended Trinity College Dublin, and trained in acting.  She settled in Ireland and has lived in Dublin since 1990.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tana_French    

A dovecote or dovecot or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves.  Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn.  They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest.  Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in the Middle East and Europe and were kept for their eggs and dung.  The oldest dovecotes are thought to have been the fortress-like dovecotes of Upper Egypt and the domed dovecotes of Iran.  In these regions the droppings were used by farmers for fertilization.  Pigeon droppings were also used for leather tanning and making gunpowder.  In some cultures, particularly Medieval Europe, the possession of a dovecote was a symbol of status and power and was consequently regulated by law.  Only nobles had this special privilege, known as droit de colombier.  See many pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dovecote    

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States.  The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware.  The mouth of the bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles.  With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed.  More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the bay's 64,299-square-mile drainage basin, which covers parts of six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia) and all of Washington, D.C.   The bay is approximately 200 miles long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay   

Dauber  noun

:  one that daubs something

:  old-fashioned : an unskillful painter

:  a device or marker used for applying daubs of paint or color

:   bingo dauber [=a colored marker used for highlighting the numbers on a bingo card]

DAUBER Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster  Thank you, reader.   

Toledo is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, of which it is also the county seat.  It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River.  Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in Ohio and 86th-most populous city in the U.S., with a population of 270,871 at the 2020 census.  The Toledo metropolitan area has an estimated 601,000 residents.  Toledo also serves as a major trade center for the Midwest; its port is the fifth-busiest on the Great Lakes.  The city was founded in 1833 on the west bank of the Maumee River and originally incorporated as part of the Michigan Territory.  It was re-founded in 1837 after the conclusion of the Toledo War, when it was incorporated in Ohio.  After the 1845 completion of the Miami and Erie Canal, Toledo grew quickly; it also benefited from its position on the railway line between New York City and Chicago.  The first of many glass manufacturers arrived in the 1880s, eventually earning Toledo its nickname as "The Glass City".  For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Toledo, Ohio.  The region was part of a larger area controlled by the historic tribes of the Wyandot and the people of the Council of Three Fires (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa).  The French established trading posts in the area by 1680 to take advantage of the lucrative fur trade.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Ohio 

March 17, 2026

Over the course of the last 170 years, Zinfandel has established a quality reputation in California becoming known as “America’s Heritage wine”.  The history of Zinfandel is a classic All-American success story—being transformed from a little-known grape into one that has achieved such tremendous popularity that it is grown on more than 39,000 acres.  Zinfandel is now the third most crushed wine grape in California, after Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.  While the true origins of Zinfandel remained a mystery into the early 21st century, historians have traced Zinfandel’s roots in the United States back to the 1820s, when George Gibbs, a Long Island, New York nursery owner, imported unnamed cuttings from the Schonbrunn imperial horticultural collection in Vienna, Austria.   By 1832, a Boston nursery was advertising “Zinfendal” vines for sale.  Between 1835 and 1845 “Zinfandel” became a popular “table grape” grown in hothouses in the Northeastern United States.  Frederick Macondray a sea captain and horticulturist, who grew the “Zinfindal” in Boston, Massachusetts, is credited with bringing some of the first Zinfandel cuttings to California on his sailing ship in the early 1850s.  History of Zin – ZAP  Thank you, reader.    

The Federal Government recognizes 11 holidays.  However, several things can affect when you observe your holidays such as your alternative work schedule (if you work one) and if you work full-time or part-time.  There are also special rules for state and local holidays for employees who work outside the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Federal Holidays

New Year’s Day January 1

Martin Luther King’s Birthday 3rd Monday in January

Washington’s Birthday 3rd Monday in February

Memorial Day last Monday in May

Juneteenth National Independence Day June 19

Independence Day July 4

Labor Day 1st Monday in September

Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October

Veterans’ Day November 11

Thanksgiving Day 4th Thursday in November

Christmas Day December 25

https://www.commerce.gov/hr/employees/leave/holidays   

“House burping,” in which people open the windows of their homes to let in fresh air—even in the dead of winter—has grown in popularity.  It’s part of a German practice called “lüften,” which translates to “airing out,” in order to ventilate.  Air quality professional Tony Abate, who is the chief technology officer for AtmosAir Solutions, said house burping may actually be good for you, too, noting it prevents mold, contaminants and carbon dioxide build-up.  That kind of action can help Americans, who spend roughly 90% of their time indoors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.  Lüften is practically a way of life in Germany.  The Washington Post reports that some leases contain a clause requiring tenants to open their windows several times a day.  What Is House Burping and Why Are Some People Doing It?  Thank you, reader.   

Violin by Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona , ca. 1730, "Kreisler" in the Library of Congress

Fritz Kreisler acquired this violin from William E. Hill & Sons in London in 1931. The violin was described in Hills'1931 opus, The Violin-makers of the Guarneri Family (1626-1762):  Their Life and Work.  Prior to Kreisler's acquisition, the violin had an especially colorful history.  It was first seized by the French in Madrid and then seized at sea by the English.  Next, the violin was owned successively by a parson in Whitehaven; several gentlemen who cherished it throughout their lives--one of whom, William Thompson, marked out his appreciation by branding his initials on the pegbox; and two sisters who guarded it jealously and for many years refused to sell it.  Eventually, the violin was bought by the collector John Mountford, who also owned the 1699 "Castelbarco" violin.  Mountford kept the "Kreisler" for the rest of his life.  With the onset of World War II, Kreisler and many other European artists found refuge and a new home in the United States.  In 1952, he presented this violin to the Library of Congress, showing his gratitude to his new home by this matchless gift.  https://www.loc.gov/collections/musical-instruments-at-the-library-of-congress/articles-and-essays/stringed-instrument-collection/violins/kreisler/   

Noun  From forty +‎ winks, possibly referring to a nap supposedly lasting as long as it takes a person to wink (i.e., blink) forty times.  forty winks pl (plural only) (idiomatic, informal)  A short sleep, especially when taken during the day; a nap.  Synonyms:  shut-eye, twenty winks   

March 13, 2026

 

A tableau vivant; often shortened to tableau; pl. tableaux vivants; French for 'living picture') is a static scene containing one or more actors or models.  They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically illuminated.  It thus combines aspects of theatre and the visual arts.  They were a popular medieval form that revived considerably from the 19th century, probably as they were very suitable for recording by photography.  The participants were now mostly amateurs, participating in a quick and easy form of amateur dramatics that could be brought together in an evening, and required little skill in acting or speaking.  They were also popular for various sorts of community events and parades.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tableau_vivant  Thank you, reader.   

Ruth Reichl (born 1948) is an American chef, food writer and editor.  In addition to two decades as a food critic, mainly spent at the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, Reichl has also written cookbooks, memoirs and a novel, and has been co-producer of PBS's Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS's Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth, and editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine.  She has won six James Beard Foundation Awards.  Reichl's memoirs are Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table (1998), Comfort Me with Apples:  More Adventures at the Table, Garlic and Sapphires:  The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Not Becoming My Mother, and Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir (2019).  In 2009, she published Gourmet Today, a 1,008 page cookbook containing over 1,000 recipes.  She published her first novel, Delicious in 2014, and, in 2015, published My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life, a memoir of recipes prepared in the year following the shuttering of Gourmet.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Reichl    

My mother “folds me into an embrace.  Heart origami.  That’s what she used to call it when we were small, and she’d open her arms and wait for us to run inside.”  Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult (pee-coh) 

The Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations, one of the first accounts of how nations build wealth, was first published March 9, 250 years ago in 1776.  Wikipedia    

France brought all manner of new and exotic items to Vietnam during its colonization of the region, from beer to bread, carrots to coffee, but didn’t hand them over willingly.  The story of how the modern banh mi came together, the sort of banh mi you can pick up today at a farmers’ market in London, or from a food truck in Los Angeles, recounts 160 years of Vietnam’s history in one single, fiery package.  Recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011, and the American Heritage Dictionary in 2014, the term ‘banh mi’ has officially entered the lexicon of the English-speaking world.  But in Vietnam, it refers only to ‘bread’, or ‘wheat cake’, when translated literally.  The pork, paté, and pickles combination now familiar to the West is known as a bánh mì thịt ngoui, ‘bread, meat and cold cuts’, often referred to as the bánh mì đặc biệt, ‘the special’, the one with everything.  This is what every meat-eating traveler comes to Vietnam craving.  Như Lan may be an institution in Saigon, but the banh mi’s tale neither starts nor ends here.  Its journey to international fame began 250 yards down the street, on the banks of the Saigon River in 1859, when the first French gunships and troops arrived to storm the city and begin the 30-year conquest of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, eventually forming the federation of Indochina in 1887.  From here it would take another 70 years, two world wars, a long and bloody war with the French, the civil war that followed, and a young family fleeing the communist takeover in Hanoi to create the sandwich we know today.  https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/the-sandwich-that-ate-the-world/   

March 9, 2026