{"id":32382,"date":"2026-02-02T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=32382"},"modified":"2026-02-03T19:26:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:26:58","slug":"v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/v\/","title":{"rendered":"Groundhogs & Snowcrete"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nSocotra House starts chipping the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

We were set to roll out the new header format this morning, now that we\u2019re coming back online. That\u2019s on hold\u2014for the same reason most things are.<\/p>\n

Groundhog Day ceremonies kicked off at 8:30 across the river at Dupont Circle. Clear as a bell. Rocket and Melissa took an Uber down to see whether Washington had earned six more weeks of Snowcrete.<\/p>\n

Early reports: yes.<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s moonrise\u2014the fiery orb in the lower right above\u2014was one of the most brilliant we\u2019ve seen in this recent run of celestial calm. Serene, luminous, indifferent to conditions on the ground. By morning, it paired cleanly with bright sun, phase intact.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this piece sits second in the stack today. Timing matters.
\nT
\nThere are large forces in motion out there. Four familiar faces continue to stand behind some of them. The old Persian world is restless, and there was a real question last night about whether we\u2019d wake up to something far hotter than ice.
\nInstead, we woke up frozen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nMorning in Snowcrete.
\nThe groundhog\u2019s verdict: See you in mid-March.
\nThe ice is adamant. Federal employees are instructed to report in, conditions permitting. A brief rise above freezing this afternoon may soften the surface\u2014but more likely it will harden the cap: ice over a half-foot of compacted sleet.<\/p>\n

That reality overtook most conversation this morning. A strange paralysis, paired with a flawless sky.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, downtown business continues in narrow channels. A special election has tightened the GOP majority to a single seat, with some members still physically stranded. The fight over a procedural rule dominates the day, as the budget inches forward through paths that have actually been shoveled.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d hoped to explain the new logo today. Maybe even float the idea of an early spring.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not happening.<\/p>\n

And if something hot breaks overseas, it\u2019s going to need staying power to thaw anything here.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n

Vic Socotra \u2013 Purveyor of glib words to the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Socotra House starts chipping the sidewalk. We were set to roll out the new header format this morning, now that we\u2019re coming back online. That\u2019s on hold\u2014for the same reason most things are. Groundhog Day ceremonies kicked off at 8:30 across the river at Dupont Circle. Clear as a bell. Rocket and Melissa took an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32382","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32382"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32391,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32382\/revisions\/32391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}