![\"111016-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/111016-1.jpg\")
\n(ENS Socotra and RADM Mac at Willow. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
Editor’s Note: This is a historic day, for good or ill. The pollsters were wrong. Hillary Clinton is not the President-elect. That is not what I thought when I went to bed, and I woke for the usual reason around 0330 and lay there in dark, wondering what had happened. The House? The Senate? I assumed Hillary would be in the White House. I checked the iPad to see the results by state, and I was stunned. I have remained that way all day. What are the brnaches and sequels to all this? I have no idea, and having retreated to the safety of the comforter on the bed, no prognostications. They are going to be profound, though. There is some time to work through this unknown territory, and so far, it is all civil, just as one would hope.<\/p>\n
– Vic<\/p>\n
No Such Thing<\/p>\n
\n(ENS Socotra and RADM Mac at Willow. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
They say there is no such thing as a free lunch, but I am not sure that is true. You know they used to put out a big spread of pickles and salty food \u201cfor free,\u201d to encourage the working stiffs to come in and get really thirsty. The additional sales of adult beverages more than made up for the cost of pickles and chips.<\/p>\n
They treat us pretty well at Willow, but the working principle is the same. We use the Amen Corner as a sort of auxiliary office. I was pleased that Mac is feeling well enough to get out as the season changed, and I dodged my way across the rush hour traffic on Fairfax Drive just a few minutes late.<\/p>\n
Old Jim had his regular seat. John-with-and-H and Jon without were there, along with Jerry the Power Lawyer and Tarek from the office, looking imperially slim. Mac was seated one down with an open stool next to him, which I took with alacrity. \u201cYou are late,\u201d he said with a note of disapproval in his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, late call at the office. \u201c I frowned. I had a pen, but forgot my notebook. Mac slid a stack of napkins across the bar with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u2018You are looking good, Sir,\u201d I said. His eyes were clear and his mood was merry. He was wearing a tan sport coat and sand-colored Aloha shirt and a glass of Happy Hour Red was in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u201d he replied. \u201cIt is good to be out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Down the bar, Old Jim and John-with were working steadily on their Buds and Reds, respectively, and Liz-with-an-S was depositing an iced tea with vodka in front of Jon-without. His bow tie was an assertive power red.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to talk about your third career, Mac. How you became a coordinator at Arlington Hospital for the support group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac took a small sip of wine. \u201cWhich one?\u201d he said. \u201cI was involved in several.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed the glass carefully back on the bar. I noticed that just having the glass there and available to drink- or not- is as much part of the excitement as actually drinking it.<\/p>\n
Liz-S topped up my white wine as she cruised past to re-stock the Bud locker behind the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I understand that we are not going to deal with my time on the Intelligence Community Staff. Still some issues there. I told you how and when I retired in order to be a caregiver when Billie started to fail. The timing wound up being a net positive, since the Iran Contra affair unfolded quite without me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d I said, the point on my pen ripping a hole in the napkin.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Billie was still at home when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February of 1990.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHoly crap,\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cYou have had cancer for twenty years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than that. We all get it, we guys, if we live long enough.\u201d He described the process, and the drugs they prescribed to keep the spread at bay. \u201cBut that is how I got involved with the support group. There was a prostate cancer group at Walter Reed- there are three approaches to the disease,\u201d he said, ticking them off on his gnarled fingers. \u201cSurgery, Radiation and hormone therapy. I was in the latter group.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMan,\u201d I said. \u201cThose are all pretty hard options.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr not hard, considering the alternatives,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d I said with a grimace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Walter Reed was too far to drive, and started going to Georgetown, but the group there was more of a lecture thing than a discussion or support group, and with Billie still at home, I looked around and found a gent from NSA and some other gentlemen in Arlington on the hormone regime. I started a group that met at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat must have been a busy time,\u201d I said. \u201cYou founded the Naval Intelligence Professionals alumni group around the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c1986,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to stay busy. That is the key to things. If you slow down, you die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katiya-the-new-girl was working as a server this evening, and will replace our buddy Holly who got a promotion at her other job at the Sports Bar down the block.<\/p>\n
She slid an order of stuffed mushrooms in front of Mac and almost curtsied. Her dark hair is too short to be pulled back in a ponytail like the other bartenders, and accordingly was wearing a sliver tiara-like band on her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cComplements of the kitchen,\u201d she said, and moments later, Tracy O\u2019Grady herself came out to work the crowd.<\/p>\n
I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Ensign Socotra was there to collect on an obligation. He was wearing a green MSU Spartan pullover and a fresh crew-cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tracked me down,\u201d I said, reaching for my wallet.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a tremendously difficult intelligence problem,\u201d he said. I smiled and introduced him to the Admiral.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe name Mac Showers is more than just an award for the top graduate at the Naval Intelligence Basic Course,\u201d I said with a wave. \u201cHe is a real man and he is still here. In fact, he is right there!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon-without was walking back from the head and he stopped to touch the fabric of Mac\u2019s jacket. \u201cNice coat,\u201d he said. \u201cWho is going to get it when you go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJon, WTF?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac smiled. He is beyond that. \u201cMight not fit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat size?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac positively beamed. \u201cPerfect 42 Regular,\u201d he said. \u201cI have had it for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is my size exactly,\u201d said Jon. \u201cI will stay in touch.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"111016-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/111016-2.jpg\")
\n(Jasper, our other Guamanian, enjoys a cold one on the civilian side of the Willow Bar. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
The conversation wandered back over some of Mac\u2019s Navy career, since I wanted my son to hear it straight from the horse\u2019s mouth, so to speak, and Jasper the Guamanian bartender was surprised to find that Mac spent the better part of 1945 on Nimitz Hill on his home island. There was an immediate rapport- though Jasper was quick to point out that he was not a Chamorro, but of Philippine ancestry, which caused us to lurch off into a discussion of the way things were, back in the day in the wild-west Philippine Islands, and some of the other half-forgotten islets of the western Pacific.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohnston Atoll is nothing but an airfield,\u201d said Mac. \u201cThat is all there is to the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey built a facility to incinerate chemical weapons there later,\u201d I said. \u201cEnd of the line for a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac nodded. \u201cWe stopped there flying with Admiral Nimitz\u2019s staff on the way to Guam. Coming back, we stopped at Kwajalein for fuel and breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was it?\u201d I asked, and Mac laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was headed back to Makalapa Crater and six months as the acting Fleet Intelligence Officer. The war was over, we were all going to live, those of us who were, and Wendy Furness was left at the Combat Intelligence Center up the street with the charter to get rid of all the Japanese captured material, lock up the building, and walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazing,\u201d I said. \u201cOne moment there is one thing going on, then, \u2018Poof!\u2019 the whole thing is over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz-S appeared in front of Mac and asked if she could top up his glass. Mac nodded affirmatively. \u201cPut it on my tab,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne other thing,\u201d said Liz-S, topping him up. \u201cI am headed for Maine in the morning, but I wanted to let you know that from now on, you drink for free here at Willow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be damned,\u201d said Mac.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet,\u201d she said, her chestnut ponytail swaying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about me?\u201d bellowed Old Jim from down the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is that crazy,\u2019 said Jake, sliding onto an open stool next to Tarek. \u201cBut I think we should formalize that commitment.\u201d He produced a pen and began to write on a napkin. When it was done, it looked like this:<\/p>\n
\u201cNov 15, 2011<\/p>\n
To Whom It May Concern:<\/p>\n
Given this day, under my hand, and on behalf of the establishment, the aforementioned (or not fore-mentioned,) Willow, do attest to the fact that for life, RADM \u201cMac\u201d Showers, USN-Ret, Will drink for free.\u201d<\/p>\n
He slid it across to Liz-S along with a dollar bill to serve as consideration and make it a legal contract. She signed gravely, not only tending bar but having been admitted to the one governing the practice of law in New York and New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Mac was positively beaming. \u201cWho said there was no such thing as a free lunch?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hell with lunch,\u201d said Mac. \u201cI will take the wine while I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"111016-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/111016-3.jpg\")
\n(Mac and Jake with the lifetime free Willow drinks certificate. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
Copyright 2011 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor’s Note: This is a historic day, for good or ill. The pollsters were wrong. Hillary Clinton is not the President-elect. That is not what I thought when I went to bed, and I woke for the usual reason around 0330 and lay there in dark, wondering what had happened. The House? The Senate? I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14500"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14506,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14500\/revisions\/14506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}