“I was driving back from Dam Neck—took the back road—and passed field after field of corn and bean and alfalfa, a few small patches of cotton and at least one of peanuts—so lush and green… amazing… and still inside Virginia Beach and Chesapeake—the two most populous cities in Virginia…” Shades of Green I am indeed […]

Green giants wrapped in cloaks of gray, More than a hundred feet tall, A still morning, silently they stand, Listening to the cicadas call. A happy brown dog and a petite faerie Skip along, they greet the dawn, She laughs and sings as the puppy barks, The Muse dancing on a dew-covered lawn… One by […]

So, walked Rosey about an hour ago, and an addition since morning – the first rose bloomed! First Rose Warm sun, blue sky, a brilliant flash of red, A single flower perched on a stem, Glorious summer has arrived, The first rose, nature’s gem. A hundred other buds are set to bloom, A feast for […]

 Mullah, son of a Mullah, He’s the new big man in town, Though it seems to be starting slow, Rumor has it he’s wearing a frown. Seems he was near his pappy, At least according to an anonymous reporter, And one of the early airstrikes Made him a foot shorter… He no longer has an […]

The great gray monsters now covered in red, A million little buds on every tree, For in an instant glum winter has fled, Now the world is renewed for all to see. Suddenly a riot of color thrills, Whites, brilliant reds, and there a neon pink, Cherry trees, dogwoods and yellow daffodils, The mind spins! […]

Legal said we need to say the veracity of earlier reports about Israel’s Mossad running the Commander of the Iranian al Quds Force may be suspect. They also warned us about using the graphic below, which Arrias did not contribute. It is, instead, an artifact from the Vic’s journal when steaming in the Indian Ocean […]

Log Entry for January 1st —- December 31st 2025 The ball dropped, toasts were made, The weather cold but sunny, Than an evil cretin in the Big Easy, Fifteen poor souls lost, no part of this is funny. Radicalized American – ISIS fan, Foul terrorist operations, Looks like we forgot too soon About the clash […]

Gentle Readers, there was an erroneous post the last time the Boomers decided to swap sea-stories and let the Zoomers put out the holiday edition in which they assumed Arrias had passed away since he is about as old as some of the Old Salts around the Conference table. He is not only still ambient […]

Arrias is no longer with us to do the celebrating today. He was a shipmate in uniform and in the publishing game and his memory is kept alive at Socotra House, but is recalled with fondness. We have a copy of his collected works on life in modern America on display on the conference table […]

I looked out on the back, there was a young doe under the maples, a shaft of sunlight through the trees despite the clouds above – as if out a master’s painting of a forest scene, but there is already a scattering of gold and red leaves Autumn Approaches Speckled sunlight filters through the trees,A […]