Author: Vic Socotra

Marlow’s Normal

Editor’s Note: Marlow chips in from his position on a sun-drenched but temperate Summer day on the East Coast. He covers a topic we are all still dealing with- getting back to “normal” after our chaotic Pandemic year. To a degree, we are all doing that. Here at Refuge Farm, Microsoft kindly dropped me a […]

The New Crisis

I have avoided claiming any expertise on the COVID pandemic. I am not a medical specialist, nor an epidemiologist. That said, I do have some unique experience to apply to all this, since I happened to be working on an unrelated project for the Secretary of Health and Human Services late in 2001 though my […]

Arrias: US Navy: Leadership Needed

The Chief Of Naval Operations (CNO) recently stated that the US Navy will face “flat or declining budgets” and that the US Fleet will be “shrinking.” At the same time, there are vast amounts of money being spent by the federal government – more than $6 trillion this year (and growing debt). Note, the national […]

Champagne Solstice

This is Jim Champagne’s day. I know Birthing Person Nature would quibble with that, but she is busy. I know it is the observation of the change of season, the alleged Summer Solstice, but as far as I am concerned, it belongs to Jim. He was the de facto Dad at the Amen Corner, and […]

Being Out There

(Kiko-San, in Yokosuka, Japan. 1949). Quite a set of notes this morning from the Out There Gang. Bewildering, almost. It started with Cornhusker’s contribution about the disposition of the cremated ashes of the Class A Japanese war criminals. There were six of them, including Tojo, the main public figure of the Empire, excepting his aloof […]

Witting

Author’s Note: I was working on something else this morning, and realized the topic might get me scooped up in some of the activity I was attempting to describe, not endorse. So, I thought this might fit better as a mildly amusing account of ordinary stuff that becomes extra-ordinary in the context of the times […]

Summer Solstice

The Mid-Week Review meeting avoided much contention, thank goodness. If you were wondering, the Summer Solstice arrives this Sunday, coincident with the observation of “Father’s Day,” which like “Birthing Persons Day” just past will require some juggling of old and new words. The replacement for the former, like the latter, is still under discussion for […]

Marlow: One Final Rock and Roll

Editor’s Note: The beauty of this Piedmont morning is palpable yet serene. The air embraces a pleasant coolness, betraying summer’s arriving warmth that will sweep over us in the coming days. There are a few white puffs in the depths of brilliant and unambiguous blue above the Farm. The trees that ring the pasture shiver […]