Pope Benedict

Now that I have my card reader again, I'm going to catch up on posting some images from the past couple of weeks.  This is my best image of the pope riding up Pennsylvania Avenue in the infamous Popemobile.  He's just left the White House and is heading up to the papal embassy. I was way at the back of a deep crowd. The excitement of the crowd was fascinating: people in sophisticated business attire were RUNNING to see him. There were also groups of pilgrims who had traveled from afar who were singing, drumming, chanting and having a great time. Of all the coverage of the pope's visit, the most astounding was this first person account of restauranteur Franco Nuschese of Cafe Milano preparing Benedict's lunch. Six months of devoted preparation led to a level of regrettably stunning opulence.

Too Many Homes, Too Few Photos

Dennis, Ian and Aidan visiting us in DC. Going with them to Camden Yards for an Orioles game on Jackie Robinson Day.


Me back in Madison finding 14 white pelicans in the Yahara River by our house.





Back to DC with Bionca, my "little sister." Seeing money made at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Here she is standing next to one million dollars in $10 notes. Big smile.

These are the highlights I've been waiting to add until I downloaded my images from my camera. I'm convinced that a blog entry without illustrations doesn't really work. But I can't find the card reader! Very sad, very frustrating.

I'll keep looking and will return with images when successful! -- I found it...

A DC Day sans Anne

I woke up and called Anne. Had breakfast and coffee, tidied up a bit and did laundry, practiced French, off to the National Geographic exhibits on Frogs and China (both include interesting facts), over to the Renwick Gallery (an odd exhibit on Art Jewelry) then to the Corcoran Gallery of Art for an interesting exhibit on American history as seen in art, through the American Art and Portrait Museums to cash a check and chat with our friendly bankers, home for a late lunch and a short nap to fight off allergy, work on our photo album book on A Year in DC, worked on an audio tape (if you have 8 minutes listen to the mp3), reviewed a draft presentation by a student, a bit of computer chess and of course a blog entry. Tonight I'll do some drawing exercises and work on a paper. With a sunny day with a high temperature in the 80s, it was a great day to walk around DC - though it could have been better.

Hiking the AT

Andy came down to finally hike the Appalachian Trail. We drove to Shenandoah National Park to catch a section of the AT that goes through there. We started at mile 24 at Elkwallow site, hiked past Rattlsnake Lookout, through the Hogback Overlook and on to Overall Run Falls, 93 feet fall - the tallest in the park. If you go see the falls, one thing the hiking guides don't tell you is that the first falls you come to are not the tallest falls. You have to continue on down the path. We had to do a little bushwhachking to actually get close to the second falls, and it was worth it. All in all we hiked about 10.5 miles. In the evening we went to Buffalo Billiards to meet Alana, drink some beer (Steve and Andy; Anne's still dry) and shoot pool. Then we went to dinner at Henry's Oyster Bar but wouldn't wait the hour for a table, so went next door to Trio's Fox and Hound where we ran into Nancy Groce, a folklore colleague of Anne's. Decent enough food, nice to sit outside until the wind started blowing hard.

Ben's Chili Bowl

We ate at Ben's Chili Bowl, a short walk from our house. Anne had a great chili half-smoke. Ack's bowl of chili was flavorful with a real taste of chili powder but not too hot. The sides of potato salad and coleslaw were small but homemade and tasty - the coleslaw in particular was fresh. The chocolate milk shake was great, and next time Ack aims to try the pineapple shake. After eating we walked part of the Greater U Street Heritage Trail and visited the African American Civil War Memorial. We were both surprised that there were 190,000 African American soldiers who fought in the Civil War; their names are inscribed on the memorial.

National Arboretum

Two thumbs up for the National Arboretum. It's stunning. Beautiful design, beautiful trees. We'd passed the uninspiring entrance many times on our way out of town on New York Avenue; have had it on our list of places to see before we leave. I finally got there on Monday and can't wait to go back.

Live Your Light

Thanks to Michael King's retirement, we had the great joy of reconnecting with Annie and Dave Starr, friends from Ack's grad school days in Fort Collins. A Friday afternoon retirement party at NASA-Goddard for Mike was a nicely informal gathering run by the indomitable Winnie. The next day, Mike and Diana hosted another farewell party at Winnie's house, where I got to see Annie for the first time since the early '80s and they invited us to go to a Santana concert on Sunday night. We are so glad we said yes! It was a great concert at Merriweather Post, an outdoor venue in Columbia, MD. We were happy to be under the roof in the 40 degree misty night.
And best wishes to Mike and Diana as they start a new life in Boulder, CO.

Embassy Row

Once again in search of cherry blossoms, I went to the Japanese embassy up in the northwest corner of the city. A biking website had identified that as a good place for viewing the beautiful trees. Alas, no blooming trees. Instead, tucked amid the embassies of Turkey, India, Lesotho, Belize and Japan, was the beautifully impressive Islamic Center.

(Inserting the link for Bike Washington, I just noticed that it was last updated in 2003. Maybe there were cherry trees at the embassy back then.)

I left via Rock Creek Parkway, a beautiful ride in itself, and landed back at the Tidal Basin. No comparison, this is the place to see the overwhelming beauty of the blossoms. It's even worth merging with the crowds.

Things I've Learned & Seen

1. Don't 'drop in' to the NEA office. It's way too hard to get real time clearance to enter.
2. Don't decide to go biking at 4 pm. It's way too close to rush hour.
3. Don't cross the Potomac to try to see trees in bloom. Biking along the Mt. Vernon Trail on the west side of the river left me longing to be back in the District close to the Tidal Basin.

What I did see on my beautiful spring afternoon bike ride...
Two herons flying up river
Many eight-woman crew teams practicing
Three sailboats and one sailboard out on the water
No whitecaps, unlike yesterday
Three hovering helicopters, two of which were reporting on traffic on the bridges
Many planes taking off and landing at National
Three young men fishing
One young man snoring on a park bench
One dog on the loose, trailing its leash
Hundreds of blooming daffodils
Two beaver dams and ponds

Ack's in Madison, enjoying the rare treat of being at home