Category: DailySocotra

The Trial of Spring

So, the matter is apparently over. You know what you felt: joy, relief or remorse. Or that amalgam of emotions that represents life in a conflicted society. When the jury in Minneapolis announced late yesterday that they had arrived at a verdict in the matter of George Floyd’s death there was a flurry of activity. […]

Weather Report: Lambs, Followed by Lions

Ah! The Lady in Red smiled last night on her final weather update for the day. She looked at us from the flatscreen with vivacious promise. “Tomorrow will be the most glorious day of the Spring so far!” she pronounced with authority. “Bright skies, a few puffy clouds, and soft breezes wafting gently from the […]

Old(er) Navy

CAPT William Marc Luoma, USN-Ret. This is one of those mornings in the Piedmont that cries out with life’s energy and spirit of renewal. There is raw but gentle power flowing from the bright sun, the skies lightly optimistic in blue, and encouraging us all to get outdoors and do something. We had coffee before […]

Super Real

They had the funeral service for Prince Philip this morning, broadcast from Windsor Castle in the UK. It was a nice day, a bit chill, but sunny and bright. His bride, the Queen, appeared solemn, mourning the loss of her partner of 73 years. A tear ran down my cheek when a small choir sang […]

Supreme Court Numbers

Like many these days, I was curious about the new proposals to change the number of Justices who serve on the Supreme Court. There is a Presidential Commission, established by Presidential Executive Order, and legislation hovering in the House of Representatives. At first blush, it seems consistent with Franklin Roosevelt’s 1937 attempt to re-structure the […]

Moderna and Eid al-Fitr

Author’s Note: A bonus edition of The Daily. It is intended to support Public Health Emergency Response. At this moment in time, it is No Big Deal. – Vic It was an interesting morning here. There was some mild apprehension in the air. I needn’t go into the “why” for that. Yesterday’s panic was the […]

Clean Sweep

Our Earth continues its wobble into the season of warmth. In between passing showers here in Virginia’s Piedmont, the news lapped at the greening property line. There is renewed trouble in Minneapolis, another indication of seasonal changing temperatures. This one is interesting only in its horrific banality that sweeps all before it. Up North, a […]

Weather Report: Say “Ouch!” If It Hurts

An interesting day in the country. Looming close is an adventure that caused a vivid dream in the early hours as dawn was gathering its strength to flood the fields with light green light. Frank and Phil arrived without fanfare yesterday to administer the First Cut to the pastures and hack at the ornamental bushes […]

Sounds of Spring

The Spring continues to unfold here in the country. It is a slow, inexorable process and one that enlivens the senses. Sound is one of the things that accompanies it. The Hydrangea bush that embraces the back porch seems a magnet of attractive to several honeybees, members of the hives kept on the fields next […]

Bathed in Spring

Gray and chill yesterday. The Lady in Red informed us soberly that the indomitable Canadian jet stream had strayed south again, the northern cool air colliding with our Piedmont semi-tropical moisture. Rain again in the hours of darkness, but the morning dawned bright and welcoming. Word from the meteorological staff was that it would be […]