It was the ostensible end of the week, not that there is an actual one and the remaining production issues at Socotra House had the attention of the Writer’s Section assembled on the Farm’s Loading Dock. The dawn was crisp and clear, and the smoke from Splash’s Marlboro whirled toward the trucks in the parking […]

(The Lady, Aun Saan Suu Kyi). I was minding my own business, part of the approach many of us at Refuge Farm have decided to take about the extraordinary developments on the American political scene. As a group, we are mostly retired. We are generally pleased with how our working lives were spent, although there […]

If I was a Republican, this would be a happy morning. The group down by the Fire Ring was charged up this morning. We sent a last unemotional update just as the polls closed on Election Day, recapping the way the day of voting went. This morning we followed our agreement to get our caffein […]

It was chill and gray and wet for Election Day here in Virginia. One of the new times and dates in our new electoral system is in a few minutes. That is 7:00PM, when the polls close. Which of course is subject to local variance- if you are in line at a polling station at […]

We looked at the somewhat bleary Writer’s Section this morning and gave up on attempting to do anything humorous about the coming weeks. It is Monday, at the moment, and appropriate to stay focused and outline some tips for Virginia voters in the election tomorrow. It is appropriate, since it has an outsized significance in […]

It was a family trip to San Diego. One of my sons, a 7th Fleet Sailor like me, was getting married to a lovely woman with a marvelous family on Point Loma, whose cliff are the last sight of America to tens of thousands of us who rode those proud ships. That is one reason […]

(Dr. James Lovelock, medical and climate expert, and one of the oldest white guys you will run into. Photo 2005). I got a couple quick knocks upside my cogitating noggin this morning. Splash was predictably loud about it. Rocket and Loma had slow smiles but no comment. DeMille was doing to some figuring in his […]

It is gray out there, and gusting. Nature is showering us with moisture edged with dank chill to signify that the last of the warmth of this season is being chased out, and cold reality will reconfigure our placid farm from the last of the green to bare branches and cold wind. That fit the […]

(This image is of Chairman Socotra attempting to beat back malaise during the Carter Administration in Rangoon, or Yangon, or whatever they are calling Burma at the moment. It worked! Well, we think it worked. The bat has to hit the bell at left. We think it did.) I don’t know if you saw it, […]

A major milestone is passed- a joyful cross-country adventure to attend a marvelous wedding. It signified so much on so many levels, so much emotion. On the purely personal level, it was an exercise in putting the pandemic behind us. Finally. A celebration of life and creation of a new family. The uplift of spirits […]