Some of our Shipmates have found themselves in retirement in the lovely hills of Carmel, California, where one of the great annual international automotive events is starting to unfold. Exotic cars of indescribable elegance and fame are displayed amid the playground of the stars as this summer season displays its glorious peak. Just a quick […]

This is a day reserved for spiritual events at some corners of the picnic table and day-drinking on others. We leave which corner you wish to join, or in what order, up to you. It is a personal decision. We take the collision of views as a means of calibrating the week to come, and […]

Opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Vicsocotra.com. Here is a start to the morning chaos. It is a ‘Headline’ from the UK. We put it up front to set the stage while not immediately evoking an emotional response like our frantic current campaign. Over in Britain, […]

It is gray out there today, the remnants of a hurricane scudding north in dissipation after landfall a few states to the south. We were relieved there were no reports of major military operations in the places we have been told to be concerned about. This morning has some historic tick-marks to compare with these […]

The Salts come out of the old intelligence culture devoted to supporting all sorts of operations at sea. As a general rule, the target had been naval activity above, below or atop the sea. Like the target entwined in sea traffic, mission, weather weird acoustics. Sometimes it was fairly routine and sometimes it was more […]

(From the Cowboy State Daily out in the Square State out West. The Antlers Ranch woodland with trophy fishing streams and rugged hills, courtesy Latham Jenkins of Live Water Properties. Ann invitation of sorts, not an advisory).. We succumbed to sleep around the time the warning- the ballyhoo’ed NOTAM of yesterday- clicked into effect. It […]

A neighbor is a Marine Vet and stopped at the picnic table on his way in from the car in the lot. He does contracting now, providing necessary on-demand skills useful in times of crisis. He was talking about some of the places- locations- where he has recently been called to work. Some are apparently […]

Morning, Gentle Readers! There could be good news! Maybe. As you are aware, this has been one of the craziest news weeks we have ever seen at this picnic table. Or any other picnic table we have had the chance to occupy. There may actually be some good news in the mess, or at least […]

Sorting things out on a Tuesday is always a challenge, as you well know. We had been talking to a fellow yesterday at the tobacco hut while on the stock-up swing. He was interesting. He had started his life in a place called Yemen, a place we knew and which owns Great Socotra Island. and […]