(A southern view from Algonquin Trail toward Raccoon Ford. On the right is Raccoon Ford Road- today’s Virginia Route 617. Local historian Clark B. Hall captured this view in 2017, with the bluffs and tree line of Orange County visible in the distance). Sorry to intrude this delightful morning with an account of average events […]

I was going to subject you to a continued tour of the ‘hood here around Refuge Farm. It is colorful, and reminded us of what it must have been like to live on these fields with only a thin tent for cover against the implacable elements. Raccoon Ford, a shallow stretch of the Rapidan River […]

(This brick manor house, named “Salubria” is the oldest brick home in Culpeper County. Just a fair walk east from Refuge Farm, or Wicked Bottom, if you are walking west). It is the 70th anniversary of my presence on this earth. This morning, I can say that I survived the ’60s- twice. A brief note […]

Work parties have been on the Socotra property most of the recent daylight hours. Chairman Socotra was a little lethargic the other morning, and the Comptroller and some HR functionaries managed to pump him up with enough coffee that he scrawled signatures on a couple rectangular pieces of paper and the workers cheered. The Production […]

Like you, Socotra House is confronting several nagging projects of necessity projects that complicate the transition from Spring to Summer. One that is foremost on the minds of the staff- at least those who have need to periodically step from enclosed spaces to the welcoming Piedmont out-of-doors- was falling through one of the unsound planks […]

We all get caught up in the excitement and activity of the coming summer, city or country folk included. There is seasonal work in progress at the farm that includes replacing rotted boards on the deck and slashing back the aggressive entwining green growth of the land that wants itself back. Eugene and his family […]

I submitted a piece to the Editorial Board a couple days ago. It was a little caustic about the systems under which we now live. The mirthful part seemed to have been overwhelmed, and it caused a bit of a stir. It provoked Legal to object about material that could be interpreted as critical of […]

(USNS Richard E. Byrd, (TAKE-4) en route Cam Ranh Bay, SRV. Admiral Byrd was an early Naval Aviator and famed Antarctic explorer. Official USN Photo) I am pondering the past and the future it has wrought from the Great Room at Refuge Farm. I am embarked on a deck project to prolong the life of […]

We are observing the anniversary of the great conflict in the waters off Midway atoll in the vast Pacific, of course. I am missing a Zoom call on some elements of it now, since there is family business in progress at Refuge Farm. It is not my family involved, though I am paying the freight […]

Ah, look at the events in our world this week! We lurch into a new month that will propel us into summer! The warmth is palpable, but still tinged with a breath of chill in the morning and persistent gray skies. Our President was out in Tulsa yesterday to highlight the century-old racial tragedy that […]