Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Ack was at the Smithsonian and watched the fireworks with Alana on the Mall. Ack even watched a parade - without Anne.

Kennedy Center

We went to the Kennedy Center Friday night with Paddy. Check the coats out on Paddy and Anne! The National Symphony Orchestra played pieces by Jean Sibelius - noting the 50th year since his death in 1957. The three pieces were Symphony No. 1 in E minor; The Oceanides, and Symphony No. 7 in C major. Wonderful music in the concert hall, where no seat is bad.

Farewell to Erin

There is no joy in Mudville -- Erin left today. We had such a great visit with her and Al; it's very sad to have them gone.

After dropping Erin and Al at the airport, Anne and Ack went to Mt. Vernon (we're in the better-see-it-now-cause-we're-leaving-soon mode). It was very crowded, cost $13 to get in, and the gardens were nice for vegetable but no flowers. Plus, it was a 45-minute wait to get into the mansion, so we didn't go in, but here it is for you.

Longest Escalator

Ack went to Wheaton to ride what we've been told is the longest, continuous escalator in the country (the "everlasting escalator"). Pretty cool......

For our last night together, we (Alana, Erin, Al, Anne, Ack) ate at a new restaurant in the area - Corduroy.  It is ranked as #17 in the Washingtonian's top 100 restaurants. Wonderful meal, particularly the Peekytoe Crab & Egg Custard Soup.

Art class

Ack is finishing up an abstract drawing class he his taking through the Smithsonian. It's taugh by Dalna Dastur. The figure is one drawing, 24 x 38 inches in charcoal and pastel.

Time is Relative

We went to the Naval Observatory Monday night, where we first learned about keeping time and then got to view Saturn through this large 1873 telescope! Plus the floor moved up and down!!

Some history...

For most of human existence, the unit of time that has mattered most was the day. As our capacity for velocity increased (via trains, planes, etc.), the importance of maintaining accurate time also increased. Up to the late 19th century, each community was responsible for its own timekeeping -- which led to train crashes. So Western Union and the U.S. railroads established a single time source. At noon each day, Western Union sent out a time pulse to clocks set up in railroad stations that synchronized them. That pulse originated from the Naval Observatory.

Other cool time tidbits:

• Since 1950, the earth's revolution has slowed down by 33 seconds. This has created a difference between 'scientific time' and 'social time,' leading to the "leap second," which a lot of timekeepers hate. Losing a second now means losing billions in revenue. There's a proposal to do away with the leap second and to instead have a 'leap hour' once every forty years or so.
• No one clock is accurate. Clocks work on the idea of a 'center moment.' The official time comes from not a single clock but an average of many.
• Canadian railroad companies are the ones who came up with time zones.
  

Light Show

Friday night we went to the "Lighting to Unite" event at the Washington National Cathedral. Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter projected images on to different sides of the cathedral. Some were photos of people, but the best scenes were the abstract images.

Earlier in the week, Debbie Kmetz was in DC visiting her Mom and came by to visit and work with Anne. Just so you readers know that we are not just touring, they got a lot of work done on the Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture website redesign.

Embassy Visits

Anne is up in NY celebrating her Mom's 80th birthday. She took the 6:20 am Amtrak. Ack went on an Embassy tour, visiting 6 embassies; starting with the Italian (photo). I expected a Romanesque design but the embassy's architecture was very modern. We were only allowed into the first floor and one of the outside gardens. They had a movie playing about opera. The furniture was very modern, made of nice leather, and very old paintings hung on the wall. They had gelato, but charged $2 for a dish, but I bought it anyway. The coffee gelato was good. 

Then on to Slovenia which had a much more welcoming setting . Unlike the Italians, they didn't search bags. They gave a tour of the offices which had lots of windows and open space. The building had modern architecture as well and free sweet bread. The country looks like a nice place to vacation. 

Next stop the Netherlands, which of course had the outside grounds lined with tulips. They had a self guided tour booklet for 4 rooms and the paintings inside. When you left you got a very tasty cookie and a little bottle of water - very practical of them. 

I skipped United Kingdom as the line was long and you had to clear security - they were wanding everyone and asking for IDs. I heard later that the UK was giving away a lot of stuff, including bag, T-shirt and thumb drive. Still not worth the wait in the sun to clear security. 

The Embassy of Finland was again a modern design with tall ceilings, walls made of windows and very square interior walls. They didn't have tight security (which is nice) but you had to sign in. The food was free, lots of it and lots of tasty treats - including a few wonderful salmon dishes and great cheeses. A berry drink was cool and refreshing. The Ambassador was there and would every now and then get on a microphone and welcome everyone. There is a sauna there too but it wasn't open to the tour. One of the hosts said that if you called them, they could arrange a tour for individuals. 

Next stop was Belgium where they looked into any bags. It was a very business like embassy beyond the main entrance and marble staircase. They gave you 3 pieces of good chocolate as soon as you entered, along with some butter cookies and a pen. When you left, there was Belgium beer tasting. The cherry beer was very refreshing on a day with 80F temperatures. That was my favorite visit. 

The final stop for me was Malta. The smallest country on my mini-tour (400,000 people) and a small embassy - basically a 3-floor row house. There was a wait to get in but not because of security; it was the program which included a warm welcome by the Ambassador's wife and some cake. You then went up stairs where the Ambassador greeted you into a room and gave a history lesson and answered questions. A very nice gentlemen with a good sense of humor, he talked too much as his wife had warned.

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.

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.

Fly a kite...

We spent most of Sunday morning and early afternoon walking around the Tidal Basin enjoying the beauty of the blossoming cherry trees. We also took a paddle-boat tour of the Tidal Basin. The trees are beautiful, and as you walk around they seem to get even more colorful. It does get crowded with people so going early was good thing to do.
While Anne was enjoying the food of New Orleans, Ack visited his folks for a day. He also went to the Mall on Saturday where kite-day was being celebrated. The Mall was crowded with people on the ground and kites in the sky. The families were as varied as the kite types.

Guess Where We Are

Yes,we are in Paris for about a week. We've seen two of the major museums, walked a lot and eaten wonderful food. Ack is at a CALIPSO meeting for most of the week while Anne does some touring and working in the evening.

If you want to see a slideshow of selected images of the city, see our Paris slide show on Picasa.

Andy and Marianne Visit

Andy and Marianne visited us on their way down to Andrew's graduation ceremony. They arrived on Sunday afternoon. After a quick snack we headed down to the Botanic Gardens, walking through the Building Museum on our way there. There seemed to be many more orchids in the gardens than when we first went there. We meet up with Alana and had a drink at Clydes and then a tasty dinner cooked from the "400 Three & Four Ingredients Recipes" (a Christmas gift to Anne from Ack).

Monday we took a bus to the Postal Museum and then over to the Natural History Museum to see the gems and butterfly exhibits. This was a day of 'something new' - riding a city bus for Andy and Marianne and eating raw oysters for Ack and Anne. We also saw the gems at the Natural History Museum. When shined with UV light, the Hope diamond, will appear red. Scientists have found this is the case with blue diamonds, and may be used to 'finger print' the diamonds.

Birthday and Baltimore

Happy Birthday Alana! The morning began with a rare view of a double rainbow, rare because large raindrops along with a low sun are much more common in the afternoon than morning. Anne went to Mass at St. Theresa of Avila in Anacostia, the church we'd visited on Fat Tuesday. The liturgical dance was powerful, the congregation very welcoming.

After a late pancake breakfast, we headed to Chinatown to see the New Year's festivities. We wore red clothes to ward off evil spirits/bring auspicious good luck. The weather was cold and very windy. The fireworks, which we missed as we were supping in a warm Irish bar, were supposed to be lit from a crane but had to be lowered because of the wind and blew away. The best part of the parade were the lion dancers which Alana is trying to see a close up of through her camera. Ack and Anne stopped by the Portrait Gallery for a quick tour of the Kathryn Hepburn exhibit on our way home.

On the day before, Saturday, Feb 9, Anne and Ack joined Ryan and Victor for a visit to Tom and Tim's in Baltimore. Our hosts treated us to a tasty lunch and a tour of their wonderfully restored house. On our way to the Walters Art Museum, we walked through the Bolton Hill neighborhood, past lots of outdoor sculptures by MICA art students (Maryland Institute College of Art, which is just down the block from Tom and Tim). One highlight of the Walters' collections is the "Chamber of Wonders," a Dutch cabinet-of-curiosities room filled with an fabulous collection of disparate treasures. Another highlight is an amazing collection of Chinese vases. I'm not usually excited about vases, but these were wonderful. I think it was a combination of the varieties of vases and how they were displayed - not crowded, in nice cabinets, and in a room that reflected one's home.

After the Walters, we stopped at the Baltimore Basilica - America's First Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A long name with many badges: a National Shrine, Marian Shrine, National Historic Landmark, and Co-Cathedral of Baltimore.

Orchids and Botanic Garden

Happy Ground Hog Day! We had a relaxed morning with coffee from the new coffee maker from Alana, Ack hanging out and Anne working on her book - both of us waiting for the mailman. It was a sunny day with highs in the mid-50s. We walked down to the Botanic Garden to enjoy an orchid exhibit that opened today. Beautiful orchids but neither of us really liked the A-Z display. The Botanic Garden itself displays a variety of ecosystems and deserves a visit. If you go, don't miss the fuzzy lazy rat tail desert plant. After the garden, we went shopping and both came away with long winter coats at hugely discounted prices. In the evening we strolled to the Tabard Inn for dinner. The food was good and moderately priced (about $25 for entrees). The service started great; Anne was too warm so they moved us to a cooler room. But the time between courses was long. Great for conversation except that the noise in the room was very high making it difficult to hold a conversation unless you spoke loudly. I learned that the large fellow two tables away couldn't watch 'scary movies.'

Celebrating the King

Among all the events held on Monday to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, I chose to attend the one at the National Cathedral. Geared toward youths, it was lively, fun and inspiring. Did you know that Dr. King gave his final Sunday sermon in the National Cathedral? Youth leaders read excerpts from his powerful speech, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution," from the same pulpit from which Dr. King spoke forty years ago.

The afternoon was filled with wonderful music, speech, poetry and theater. The highlight was the Urban Nation H.I.P. H.O.P. Choir's performance of Bob Marley's "One Love." It was such a perfect embodiment of the spirit of the day that a lot of us -- Episcopal priests, Teen USA queens complete with tiaras, and 50-something folklorists from Wisconsin -- started dancing in the aisles of the Cathedral!

Welcome Erin

Erin arrived on Thursday. We went to Arlington Cemetery; volunteers had placed wreaths out on the graves. It is a visual reminder of sacrifice. We also saw the Second Shepherd's Play at the Folger's Theater that evening. An entertaining and nontraditional Christmas show.

Lots of Great Music

I've been enjoying all the opportunities for great free music in DC. (Well, not ALL of them - there's too many.) The Homegrown concerts at the Library of Congress put on by the American Folklife Center feature excellent local performers from different states. November 15, folklorist Andrea Graham brought Dallas Chief Eagle, of the Rosebud Sioux tribe, and Jasmine Pickner, of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe, from South Dakota to perform hoop dances. AMAZING! Take a look at the video of their performance at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage later that night. A highlight for me -- I joined the volunteers on stage to learn a simple version of a hoop dance. It was challenging and loads of fun!

Yesterday, West Virginia had its turn with Gandydancer, an impressive old time string band. Beautiful harmonies, excellent instrumentation, and an interesting mix of styles of songs and tunes. After their noon concert at AFC, they were whisked away to play at Senator Robert Byrd's surprise 90th birthday party. That night they played at the Kennedy Center. Watch that December 12 performance.

(Photos are from the Kennedy Center website.)

Dona Nobis Pacem

Finally joined a protest against the war. On Sunday night, Anne gathered with a small group from an interfaith peace coalition affiliated with Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. We sang, prayed, then placed stones along the fence around the White House. The idea is that "even the stones will cry out for justice."

Memorial to those lost at sea...

On a walk along the Potomic River on Nov 10, we came across this memorial - a memorial to all those who had died at sea. Seemed appropriate as Nov 10 is the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior.