Author: Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: Wasteland Observations

Editor’s Note: As has been noted elsewhere, this is a Tuesday that feels like a second Monday. Nestled in Virginia’s rolling Piedmont, we here at Refuge Farm are subject to all sorts of political turmoil. It is piled up on the way to our loopy Virginia off-peak election next week. Former Presidents and governors visited […]

Arrias: What Have You Got To Hide?

There was a very entertaining movie made in 1967 that was a satirical attempt to “tap” into the growing paranoia that the “Government” was spying on Americans. The movie was “The President’s Analyst, and the evil antagonist in the movie was “TPC,” “The Phone Company,” a huge, all knowing, omnipresent technological marvel that worked hand-in-glove […]

Renewable Green, Seen from the Heights

Editor’s Note: The Socotra House Editorial Staff recently left the property, a slightly unusual occurrence in these challenging times in America. This was not exactly a “trip to town for a swim at the Powell Center.” Instead, it was a view of the United States of America, mostly conducted at Flight Level 360 on a […]

Random thoughts after five years of living in the Coastal Empire

Editor’s Note: There are a hundred stories to tell about the Editorial Staff’s recent sojourn on the Western Shore of America. It will take a little while to sort them out- fractured families, new unified versions, great joy and a lovely bride. This is an image of a proud father and a joyful Groom. A […]

A Wedding Day

(Brother is front left, Groom is sipping at the imminence of Marriage to right. Reception after rehearsal at the beach on Shelter Island). Clouds are burning off nicely in this bustling city on the Bay. Jet Skies are leaping in the still water. The wedding will be out-of-doors, so like much here in San Diego, […]

At the Midway…

It was a day of delirious beauty in San Diego’s waterfront. Older son and lovely wife arrived around noon with a fabulous reunion in what had been our old stomping grounds across the majestic Coronado Bay Bridge. This being a day still filled with gathering from around the country, there was a chance to take […]

Moonset

So, morning came on time despite being below the slope of majestic Point Loma. Lingering in the pre-dawn was the silver orb of a near full moon, brilliant in its reflection of the sun still rising. Up at 0700, East Coast, 0400 on Shelter Island local, the harbor rim still snoozing. Dining with Heather, the […]

A Little Traveling Music

There are plenty of America’s out there. Lord, last time on a jet was back in the days we were trying to get one of the three of us in to check on the folks and keep all informed about how their situation was being managed. It turned out to be simpler to just drive […]

Meeting Dad

I was looking for my sister. I have mentioned the reasons for that, but in short, she was a show-biz lady and careful about the images she shared after the bloom began to pass from her career. Now that she is gone, her lovely daughter was looking for things she didn’t sequester for reasons of […]

Arrias: Left Behind

 When I was in college I had a pal who was a few years older than me; he had been in the Army and did an 11 month tour of duty in Vietnam. He told me a story about how he had returned on a flight to the US in a plane filled with GIs, […]