Author: Vic Socotra

Twenty Four

The morning started out with ennui. I slept well enough, but rose still tired. The temperatures have declined from the sultry first-sweat day of the season. The coffee was good enough, when I remembered to punch the button on the side. I don’t know- there is plenty to be outraged about but somehow I could […]

In From the Cold

  Listening to news-and-traffic-on-the-eights, I heard about the big collapse of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet. Twoo teams of scientists say the long-feared collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun, kicking off what they say will be a centuries-long, “unstoppable” process that could raise sea levels by as much as 15 feet. When […]

Sustainable

(This is the prototype for solar energy farms of the future that can produce electric power except when there are clouds or when the sun goes down. When operating, the individual mirrors focus intense heat on the tower array, which boils water to produce energy. It also shreds birds in midair and can blind pilots, […]

Mother’s Day

(Mom in Miami, 1960) To all the mothers out there, the very best wishes for a day filled with little luxuries, and the adoration of your children. Perhaps brunch? Certainly a respite from the cares of raising the next generation. Mom has been gone now since January of 2012. That first Mother’s Day without her […]

Hiding in Plain Sight

Sorry-got off on the Cold War this morning with the usual suspects. Maybe it was part of the informal celebration of Soviet Victory Day yesterday at Willow- the one that commemorated the final victory over Nazi Germany by he Red Army. We started with some thoughts about the Boko Haram, the militants who kidnapped almost […]

We’ll Leave the Light On For You

I have been a traveling man most of my professional life. Mostly the unpleasant bag-dragging sort of travel in which you never really get to unpack, and wind up humping the luggage through elevators of varying reliability to cabs of uncertain hygiene to oppressive air portals of embarkation. Remember the stunning invocation of luggage with […]

The Micheline Guide to Birdfarms: Coral Maru and Sorry Sarah

I got one in the inbound this morning that caused me to sit up straight and sputter in my coffee. I was hung over- I don’t know what happened with the Happy Hour White on Tuesday, but I got a vague case of dyspepsia, and came home early. It was the Lovely Jamie’s last trip […]

Are You Ready (For the Country?)

Boats wrote me this morning to beat me up, saying: “I am a bit bewildered by your basic attitude towards pasturage. You’re paying thousands for, and hundreds in maintenance coasts for basically a mechanical small sheep or goat herd.” “To the non-urban mind, pasturage is not a big lawn, but a productive asset.” “You can […]

What the Doctor Ordered

(Whatever was happening here- possibly the departure of Famous Bomber Pilot Dick and his entourage from West Webster, NY- apparently left Grandma cold. There are many many better pictures, but this one is a study in ambiguity. Left to right, Rocky, Dick, Burr, Marshall, Grandma, Jim, Vic, Rhoda, Betty and Ted. Check the car. Dick […]

Fair Winds

(“First Flight” Painting by artist Bill Northup courtesy the F8 Crusader Association.) I am waking this Cinco de Mayo at the Farm. I was scanning slides last night, half watching the television and half lost in a reverie. I like the soft pace of a Sunday night here, and the human-scale problems of attempting to […]