A Quick Trip

Ben had to go to DC a few weeks ago for some business, and while it was productive he didn't have any fun while he was there.  With his appetite whetted, he decided that we should go and spend a few days in the city "just for fun."  So we reserved a room at the Tabard Inn on Dupont Circle and spent three days in the capitol city, walking around revisiting old loved places and eating at wonderful restaurants.  

We lived in the Maryland suburbs for most of our life together, commuting downtown to the Library of Congress for work and enjoying much of the pleasures the city offers.  It was the first time I'd been back in DC itself since I left eight years ago, and it was a real joy.  We had delightful weather, perfect for travel and sightseeing. 

It was a quick trip and I didn't have time to visit with former colleagues and friends, but I did get to see my sister, Jean, who lives in Southern Maryland.  While Ben visited his brother Jeff in Virginia, Jean picked me up at the New Carrollton Metro, an old haunt from my commuting days, and drove me to Mike's Crab House on the South River near Annapolis where we ate hard shell crabs.  It was great to see her again and we enjoyed catching up in person.  I've been hungering not only for the crabs, one of the few foods we can't get here in Boulder, but also to see the beautiful coves and rivers near Annapolis.  We have streams and reservoirs out here, but I've missed the large expanses of waterways that the Annapolis area features.  

The next day Ben and I walked nine miles, over to Georgetown and then around the Arlington Cemetery, which I don't think I've ever actually been to before.  We happened to visit on a day when the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was commemorating its 100th anniversary.  For the occasion the public was invited to place flowers at the foot of the Tomb, something that is not usually allowed.  When we saw what was going on we decided to join the long line leading to the Tomb, eventually placing our flowers which were provided by volunteer groups.  The experience was sobering, but the thing that moved me the most was seeing a photograph in the Welcome Center showing a mother sitting at the foot of her sons's grave.  

The next day we again walked over to Georgetown and then onto the C&O canal, starting near the Key Bridge and then down the river.  In the past, I've walked the canal further out Maryland closer to the Carderock recreation area where Ben often went climbing.  So I enjoyed seeing this "new to me" section of the canal. 

One of the fun things about this trip was chatting with so many interesting people.  One Lyft driver was a high school social studies teacher who also owns an import/export business based in Morocco.  He told me about his supply line problems, about the woes of doing business with China, and about the adjustment of being newly married to a Moroccan.  It was a lively and interesting conversation and one that I'm not likely to have in Colorado.  I also appreciated a chat with a taxi driver who assured me that the US has gotten through other difficult political times and we'll do it again.  At the bar at the Old Ebbitt Grill near the White House we struck up a conversation with the dapper man sitting next to me and it was gradually revealed that he owned the construction company that renovated the old Library of Congress building back in the early 80's and just recently was responsible for cleaning the Jefferson Memorial so it once again gleams in the sunlight.  

The Tabard Inn where we stayed was also interesting, being the oldest still-operating hotel in DC.  It's a funky place filled with old rugs and antiques and unusual decorations.   In the hall to our room we passed this interesting doll or mannequin.   

And our room had this unique decoration on the ceiling. 

I got to spend about an hour in the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art and made another short visit to the Phillips Gallery, which features Impressionist and American modern art.  I was done viewing the main galleries when I ran across a small but wonderful exhibit of work by Sanford Biggers a living artist who creates in many medias, including sculpture, painting, fiber, and sand.   One of the things he does is take old antique quilts and reuses them in his art.  Sometimes he paints over them and sometimes he makes small 3-D structures like the one in the photo below. 

For this exhibition he was commissioned to make a sand painting directly on the gallery floor, inspired by quilts made by the African American artists of Gee's Bend, Alabama in the early 20th century.  Working with the fabrics they had on hand and in a remote area which allowed them to escape the influence of artistic trends, these quilters developed a modern abstract style rarely seen in quilts of the time.  Their work was discovered and recognized as unique pieces of art and featured in influential exhibitions in various museums starting in 2002.    

I had heard a lot about these quilts and their impact on the modern quilt movement, but never had the chance to see any.  So I was thrilled to find four of them in this little gallery along with Biggers' interesting artworks which he developed in response to them. 

You can see from these photos that while the quality of craftsmanship and materials reflect the isolation of the makers, the overall designs have great graphic appeal.  The detail below shows a large scrap in the center which appears to have been cut from a pair of pants and used complete with the pants pocket!   

It was a quick but really fun trip.  And now Thanksgiving is right the corner and just the other day I saw the first holiday decorations at a mall.   

The question on everyone's mind here is, when will we get our first snowfall? As you can see, there's snow up in the mountains but not a flake has fallen down here.  This lack of snow led one weatherman to say the other day, "It's getting to be kind of creepy!"

One Cool Lizard: Spikey, 2011-2018

Spikey, our Bearded Dragon, died yesterday after a long illness.  The vet believes that he was born with a virus that made him quite sick this past year.  After seeing him deteriorate over the past months, it is striking to look at old photos and see how vigorous he used to be.   

He was just a lizard, but he had a great personality.  He liked to climb....

... to look out the window...  

... and find cozy places to chill out.  

He started off as Paul's pet but after we moved to Boulder I set up his habitat in the living room where he could be in the middle of things and keep an eye on us, and he became a family pet.

He liked to keep me company in my sewing studio.

 And often made us laugh with his funny positions.

He loved raspberries and once licked at Dawn's toes, thinking they were the red berries!

He was a good traveler and seemed to enjoy the car trip from Maryland to Colorado.  (We love this photo of him looking at himself in the car door handle on that trip.) 

He got along okay with Fetcher.  They mostly ignored each other, which was just fine.

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As a pet he had many virtues;  he didn't bark, wasn't emotionally demanding, didn't require extensive vet bills (since there's not much that a vet can do for a lizard), and he was generally a blank slate onto which you could place your own feelings and thoughts.   His main vice was his love of live crickets, which meant we had to keep live crickets in the house, which was a pain.

He was one cool lizard and a pretty darned good pet.   Rest in peace, Mr. Spikey.

Out and About

 Ben and I have had colds all week, complete with regular coughing and nose blowing.   And it's been a cold, dark, and snowy week with eight inches of snow last Sunday night and another four inches on Friday.  All in all a good time to stay indoors.

But after several days of inactivity we were feeling about as sluggish as Spikey looked, all collapsed in a heap against his rock.

Time to get outside, and the beautiful sunshine was all it took to get us moving this cold morning.

As we set off up the hill towards Chautauqua we were surprised to hear the drone of a bi-plane.  Craning our heads towards the gorgeous Boulder blue sky we realized it was pulling a banner that said, "Michelle, will you marry me?"

We wondered if Michelle has out hiking with her boyfriend and what happened when she realized the message was for her.  It would have been fun to be nearby! 

In the park there is one hill where sledding is allowed.  Today was the first time we had seen sledders there and we stopped to watch the fun.

Whoops, an unoccupied green plastic sled went sailing by, down the hill right past us.  Ben ran after it, caught it, and returned it to its owners who nicely offered us a ride on it.
 

No, thanks, we have miles to go this morning.

Up, up, up to reach the Enchanted Mesa trail.  It was quite lovely in the snow.

On the way back down we passed through the neighboring streets where we caught a glimpse of this huge icicle.  I'm glad it wasn't on my house!

Well, you never know what you will see when you are out and about.  Last week we drove over to Longmont to see Dawn and the boys and we spotted this from the car window. 

 When we told Dawn she said "That big kitty is always hanging out on that fence watching everyone drive by."   I guess he likes to see what's going on, just like we do. 

Today

Today I'm.....

...looking forward to my "girl's weekend" in San Diego with my sister, Jean, and our good friend from high school, Janice.  I leave tomorrow!  

....worrying about my cat, Fetcher, who didn't come home last night.  We haven't seen him since yesterday which is not good considering all the wildlife around here.  

...working hard to get some things done before I leave.  It wasn't the best planning to take four days off to see the eclipse when I had another vacation following right on its tail, but I'm glad I did.  

...feeling glad that Paul figured out which Bari Sax he wants.  He's been playing on a rental for three years and saving up for the last year for his own instrument.  He had saved his part of the cost by May but then couldn't find one he wanted in stock to purchase.  Now he has and I'm glad that we can all stop thinking and talking about it.   

...enjoying having That Handsome Dog Gus visiting with us.  He arrived this morning and will stay the weekend.    

...appreciating how Ben installed a new, sharp-looking mailbox while I was in Nebraska.  These little changes make a big difference!   

Heading into the Weekend

It's been a dry month but that hasn't stopped the wildflowers from doing well.  I love to spot them as we hike, either as single flowers here and there or in big patches.  

After several weeks of no rain don't you know that we'd get a downpour on the one night we had tickets to the Shakespeare Festival.  There was a steady drizzle as we walked over to CU to see Julius Caesar at the outdoor theater.  When we got there we were amused to see the crew sweeping water from the stage and the audience well prepared for more rain.  

Good thing, too, since a heavy rain started as the last act began.  Both the actors and the audience were quite stoic about the weather and the show went on without a single actor breaking character or even wiping off the rain from their faces as the deluge continued.   

 That was last Friday and since then it's been hot and humid.  So humid that I've actually been dripping sweat when I've been out walking or hiking, which is unusual in these dry parts.  The heat is breaking this weekend and I hope the humidity does as well.

Spikey decided it was too hot in his habitat and found a more comfortable place to hang out.

Yesterday I went up to Fort Collins to see the New Legacies art quilt exhibition at the Lincoln Center and we stopped at the annual flower trials hosted by the Colorado State University.

Of course there were sunflowers.  

But also big pots of coleus.  I can see one of these on my patio next year!

This afternoon I'll be at a quilting "sit and sew" gathering so I made a point of getting out for a hike this morning.  I went to the Chautauqua Trail, the most popular trail in the park, which is being redesigned to better handle the vast numbers of hikers that use it.  Instead of going pretty much straight up the meadow to the Flatirons it is being rerouted with large switchbacks.

In this photo the new trail is where you see the two guys in the red and yellow t-shirts.  All the dirt to the right of them will be replanted with meadow grass.  Our tax money at work!  I love it.   The two guys running up the hill looked like a father and son team.  I'd guess the boy was about ten or twelve.  How's that for a father/son activity?

I got a kick out of these two magpies watching the goings-on from their rock perch.

Our family is entering an exciting time as Ben's brother's family is moving to nearby Longmont next week.  The moving van arrives in Virginia on Monday and should be in Colorado by next Saturday. Dawn and the boys are flying in on Thursday night and Ben and John are driving out one of the cars and arriving on Friday.  They'll all be staying here for a couple of nights as their belongings arrive and get unpacked.

This is a two-part move.   This first part is to get the boys settled in their new Colorado home before school starts in mid-August.  The second will be in early 2018 after Dawn retires and she is able to join her family out here and the Virginia home is put on the market.

Moving takes a lot of planning and work, but you just have to blast through it.  John & Dawn have done a great job of making decisions, getting packed up, and keeping their cool.  I'm excited for them and I'm looking forward to having them close by!