(The SS Socotra as she was in December of 1915, with sampan amidships. Photo Le Touquet-Paris-Plage). The day passed without anything happening. Well, wait, let me rephrase that: the day passed without anything awful happening to rival what happened thirteen years ago. I am sure something nasty went on somewhere; it is the nature of […]

I wrote the date and then I had to stop. Thirteen years, almost to the tick of the clock. I watched the President last night, and I know only one thing: we are not safer today than we were then, and this is a mess. Despite all the blood and treasure we have spent since […]

I have a homework assignment. It involves tracking the cost of living, winter mean temperature ranges, and proximity to military facilities that have health, commissary, Class Six and PX stores. I mentioned before that if this winter shapes up to be like the last one, I intend to spent it elsewhere. I am not sure […]

(Vic in Great Pharoah’s grave inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, 1990. From the revamped website. Photo Socotra). Gentle Readers, This is a banner day at Socotra House LLC. I have exciting news- well, check that. I have news that is mildly interesting and slightly expensive and will probably, as all things seem […]

(The statue of Nathan Hale stands guard between the CIA Auditorium and the Original Headquarters Building (OHB). It serves as a constant reminder to CIA employees of the duties and sacrifices of an intelligence officer.The 21 year-old-Captain in the Continental Army volunteered to collect intelligence on His Majesty’s forces on Long Island. He was caught […]

(Image courtesy Blake Vasek) Two weekends left with the pool open. The reality has been hard to accept: the pool furniture is still out there, all neatly aligned, and with the temperatures hovering in the nineties, it is so enticing, and so closed. I wrote an impassioned story this morning- so much emption contained that […]

 We talked about the usual stuff at the apex of the Amen Corner last night. It was hot, the cold front won’t get here for another day or two, the quirky tunes on Pandora that the restaurant plays in the background, the events of the day, Old Jim’s continual battle with the air conditioning […]

(The Culpeper Train Depot at the end of historic E. Davis Street. Photo Clarion-Bugle). There has been a major shakeup in the publishing world down in rural Culpeper where I am increasingly spending my discretionary time. The Weekly Citizen was sold to Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News. We are very cosmopolitan there- two […]

The return to work had everyone in town sort of dazed. I got a call from the 14th Street Bridge by a former colleague who felt she was spending the better part of the day looking at brake-lights. The pool gate remained stoically locked. The temperature hovered in the mid-nineties with comparable humidity. In short, […]

We were seated at Jim and Mary’s place. Willow was closed, of course, in honor of the Labor Day Holiday and the thirty-thousand dollar repair to the dishwasher in the kitchen, which Tracy hopes will be complete and back in operation by later today. I hope so, too. We agreed that it is getting on […]