Author: Vic Socotra

Things That Changed

A year ago the COVID came, or more accurately, the reaction to it. Now, it sounds like one of those English folk songs we were subjected to back in the 1960s. At the time, the concern was starting to spread wildly. You recall when lockdowns happened, indoor dining was restricted, and bars closed. Salons, too, […]

The Religious Wars

It is gray this morning at the farm, seasonal chill, clouds. They say rain and snow later, which drives a schedule that includes moving large bundles of split logs. Country living has some things that call out in memory- like, what to expect from the world on that day. It’s funny. The weather is another […]

Arrias: The Virtues

Editor’s Note: A twin-spin this morning. Arrias is insightful as usual as we all grapple with this astonishing and changing world. – Vic Watch some TV for just a few minutes and you’ll be bombarded by a broad assortment of news and entertainment, police shows and spy shows and political dramas. They all share certain […]

Fear and Loathing on the Cheju-do MODLOC

Editor’s Note: There are many balls in the air now, and at a raucous staff meeting the decision was made to look at other times. Some assembly had been done on a project involving Cold War activities on the global front. This is a snapshot of life more than 40 years ago. Every generation has […]

Like the Weather

(A routine mostly peaceful parade in the PACNORWEST on Inauguration Day. It is like the weather.) Here, it is a lovely day in Virginia’s Piedmont: bright sun, rich blue sky and just the chill of the persistent winter to envelope us. On clear days like this as darkness washes over, we watch what appear to […]

Life & Island Times:Yes, Columbus Did Discover America

Editor’s Note: We are off to an exciting start to the new Administration! I looked on with wonder and appreciation at the thick sheaf of Executive Orders on President Biden’s desk. You know, the stuff that we debated extensively during the well-travelled campaign trail from the basement in Delaware to that car trip to Pennsylvania. […]

Swamp Postcard: Peace in the Valley

What a week! Today is 01/21/21, a symmetrical date unlikely to be back any time soon. This Postcard, from a Swamp perspective, is a happy one. Mr. Biden was safely inaugurated yesterday, though it required locking-down the capital with the greatest number of troops on the streets since the Civil War. There is a sense […]

The Seventy Days, Complete

While it is not over quite yet, we just saw Marine-1 leave the White House lawn with the President and First Lady aboard. He has the nuclear release codes with him. That package will go inactive at noon or so, and the ones given to to President Biden will give him the keys to Hell. […]

Life & Island Times: We Need Change

Editor’s Note: It is The Day, or at least one of them, and all the amazing things that have brought us from the ballot box(es) of November to the seasonally acceptable day in late January. It should be the concluding chapter in the exciting new Socotra best seller “The Seventy Days: Big Things in Motion.” […]

Footnotes

It is a giddy sort of day here in the Piedmont of Virginia. Great clear sunrise, sparse but attractive clouds. Temperature rising, low humidity. Nice winter day, pleasant for a smoke out on the back deck and watch the vulture circling over the bottom of the east pasture. It is the Day Before, as you […]