S ounds like a Merchant-Ivory film from the 1980s, doesn't it . June was a busy month here and gone before I knew it. And here we are in July after a conference in Washington, D.C. with a visit to my sister, intense work on a summer podcast series aimed at college professors, and topped off by an all too brief vacation with the Grand Duchess and Young Master in Northern Michigan outside of Traverse City on the banks of the Betsie River. You'll note, as clear as the water is, that it looks brown rather than the odd shades of blue on commercially produced river and lake sections. Only deep water on sunny days, for example Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes, appears dark blue. A dark blue-gray on cloudy days. In any case, time now to dive back into the painting fray and make some progress with my version of Saxony's von Polenz Cuirassiers, circa 1733. I am throwing my gauntlet on the ground at my own feet and issuing a painting ch...