Author: Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard: Guns Drawn! Lights, Camera Rolling!

It has been quite a week- which I know you get tired of hearing, since the Swamp has become stranger with each passing week. Amid the government shutdown, legislators took the weekend off as the Coast Guard prepares to meet a second pay period without….well you know, pay. Maybe they should be authorized to retail […]

Commander’s Moon

We have the second night of The Big Moon down in Culpeper County, one of those remarkable times when the orbital mechanics of our fractious solar system bring our hurtling orbs a little closer together than usual. It is an awesome view from the back deck at Refuge Farm. The pastures are bathed in silver, […]

Arrias: Rotting From the Head Down?

Comedies are often far better at revealing subtle truths than are drama; perhaps that’s why good comedies are more rare than good dramas. In a scene in the movie “Major League” the Cleveland Indians, ahead by one run, face a tight situation: runners on, the big Yankee slugger stepping into the batter’s box. The relief […]

Life & Island Times: Riding Lessons

After an 18 year hiatus from motorcycle riding, I decided in my late 40s to begin again. I decided to take a three day safety riding course that, if passed, would exempt me from displaying my skills at the local DMV, when applying for my Virginia driver’s license endorsement as a legal two wheeled rider. […]

Life & Island Times: Random thoughts at the end of a road trip

Gentle Readers, It is good to have friends. I am nestled in an eiderdown of snow in central Virginia. The federal government is closed today. I have no way to tell the difference. Now, to Marlow…. This is from a 1999 motorcycle trip journal. – Marlow January 2019 Random thoughts at the end of a […]

Arrias: The Corporate Conscience

Snow here in the Country. No one with any sense is going anywhere. The larger is sacked and the fire is roaring. – Vic The Corporate Conscience There’s a common warning, given to everyone at one time or another, to “stay in your lane.” Stated otherwise, focus on what you’re supposed to do. A recent […]

Country Living

I have been down in Culpeper for the last two weeks, right across the holidays. The skies have been filled the portents of the season- gray skies and chill rain with the prospect of as much as three inches of the white stuff. In preparation, I ventured to the Safeway and the VABC store, just […]

Old Glory

She’s a grand old flag. A high flying flag. She once belonged to the Clinton campaign- the second one, as I recall. I was working in the building on Glebe Road in the Ballston neighbourhood of Arlington, VA, on the right side of the Potomac. With the exception of a few years downtown, I have […]

Swamp Postcard: Let the Games Begin!

I mentioned to a pal that I could not have predicted that each week in The Swamp would get loonier and loonier. I mean really, what are they going to do to top this bizarre week. On the upside, a mega-sized moon and lunar eclipse with be visible all across North America. I am hoping […]

Life & Island Times: Highwayman

No, this is not about the Detroit 1%er motorcycle club. – Marlow I motorcycled the highways Along coastal roads I did ride Leather and jeans protected my back side Many a mile was covered as I pursued this trade Many the moments did I speed through glen and glade Some gravel hung me out to […]