Hi! Deirdre here, now free that the fritters are done in the Galley. The messaging this morning is all over. Miles told me he was going to look at the mass shootings reported here and up in Michigan and Kentucky. The news here in DC is more settled, like how access to some of the museums on the National Mall and downtown Washington will require a Freedom 250 ticket during the racing festivities.

Some tourists who booked their trips before learning about the exciting new event and the national mall traffic restrictions are being quoted as less than thrilled about machines hurtling at more than a hundred miles an hour down Pennsylvania Avenue.

In a town normally deadlocked over the balance of a couple votes in the United States Senate, that is a refreshing sort of change.

We intend to have small parties at strategic viewing spots near the Independence Avenue turns to catch the action.

But other people are getting ready for something else.

School.

Students are reporting to colleges around the country, and some of the noise accompanying the new academic year has not been pleasant.

Two incidents are worth noting. One is back in Michigan, the state where Vic grew up. The other happened just down the road from Socotra House HQ.

Up North

The Michigan incident was senseless and horrific. We won’t dwell on the specifics here. The man authorities say was responsible ultimately turned the weapon on himself, ending whatever dispute or madness had produced the violence.

That doesn’t end things, of course, for the people left behind.

Down South

The other incident was closer to home.

Last Friday, more than a thousand Virginia State University freshmen gathered on campus for a ceremony celebrating the beginning of their college careers at the proud HBCU in Petersburg, just south of Richmond.

They listened to life advice from former National Football League quarterback Cam Newton, who urged them to pursue their grandest goals.

A few hours later, just before two in the morning, five people were shot and wounded outside residence halls about a quarter-mile away.

The incident triggered a campus-wide lockdown and a multi-agency law-enforcement response.

Police on Saturday arrested a 19-year-old non-student from Henrico. Eight felony warrants were announced, including charges involving use of a firearm and malicious wounding.

And this morning?

Students started classes.

That may be the strangest contrast of all.

So the summer continues to turn. The Grand Prix comes roaring through Washington next weekend, the kids are heading back to school, and September—and the more solemn 25th anniversary of 9/11—is waiting just beyond it.

For the moment, we’re planning to enjoy the loud noises downtown.

At least these are noises we understand.

And we’re curious to see what those usually invisible hundred-mile-an-hour antics on Pennsylvania Avenue actually look like in person.

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com