Not all endings arrive with gravity. Or in the Gulf…
A busy morning, in the 4th Floor Conference Room at Socotra House in extreme north Fairfax County. It was draped over something weightier.

The larger matters were already in motion—distant, consequential, unresolved. They will keep. They always do. The Smart Guys have adjusted their estimates for impending damage to Iran”s oil structure. Without export, storage will be overwhelmed and brackish water will come into the bottom of the wells. New date for that damage is 03 May, so things are likely to be lively as we head to May Day celebrations and some people loudly cheering for Iran, of all things.

In view of impending activity lurching simultaneously across the continents, there was a need to at least have a running comment kept on things. Watch Sections composed mostly of the Retirees and some of the House Zooms assumed an inchoate but efficient feeding and production schedule. Like yesterday afternoon. The Chairman’s SUV was filled up with representatives looking to stock up on caffeine concoctions for alertness from the Galley. Plus bulk bagels, good rolls and a couple loaves. with tubs of Deli tuna and chicken things to last across the weekend shifts. And whatever Dierdre had connived for hearty main course sandwiches on the company Zelle account.

So that was the quick self-defense run over to Tysons. Then Miles laughed and held a Health Call to keep things healthy through the pace of pop-up kinetic events. And efficient and transactional production in the machinery of the day.
Nothing remarkable.

Then down to the Salon on the ground floor for quick trims in case WTOP or ARLNow where we do Happy Hour screen punditry in exchange for snacks and drinks.

We are now running late, just like this morning. It simplifies things for weekend prep. No time for the full ritual treatment for everyone—just shampoos and trims for most. The cuts will come next week, along with touch-ups.
And something else. Something signifcant. Our Socotra Stylist Bethany is departing.

Not far— just Alexandria at the bottom of Arlington and her own fifteen-minute country—but far enough to matter. A better situation for her and closer than the 12 miles it can take two hours to cover. Which is good for her if a bit sad for us. Natasha will replace her, and although her fingers are strong, we will have to work on a standard Socotra conflict coverage look that combines a sort of relaxed professionalism with speed. It will take a minute
The rest does not.

There is no ceremony for this sort of thing and no markers left behind. No list of names. Just a familiar place that will look the same next week, and a chair that will not quite feel it. The rhythm continues, but the cadence shifts, almost imperceptibly at first. It is like dickering for fancy fabrics down at the Souk, rugs they could travel with and decorate transient quarters quickly.

When they come. As a group with differing standards of communal life, we tend to reserve our attention for the larger mandatory departures.
But it is these smaller ones that accumulate—the last appointment, the casual mention, the unspoken understanding that something ordinary has just ended.

There was a brief announcement.

Sudden departure. Next week there will be new cuttery styles and the threat to use that hair gel Gaven Newsom has been using with such effect.

Now, the temperatures are supposed to return to something seasonal and Spring like. Forward – toward May Day! We need some resolution to the conflicts along with concentrated coverage!

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