Hello everyone, another week has come and gone and it’s certainly had its ups and downs. More ups than last week, so that is at least something. The weather got warm here in D.C. for the weekend, and we enjoyed sitting outside in the sun. It’s turned significantly colder again as the new week began, which I’m okay with because I know the oppressive heat of D.C. in the summertime is not far away. It’s normally about this time of year that I’m making plans to head north and away from the heat. North to the Rockies, north to Alaska, north to the Great Lakes - somewhere where summer is a little bit easier to cope with and it’s actually a wonderful thing to be outside. I think it’s the knowledge that I’m likely to be here in D.C. for most of the summer which made my cabin fever boil over a bit this week. I miss the road. I miss my friends. I miss the opportunity to pick up and go when and where I want to. I miss new adventures and experiences.
We had a nice weekend here in the old homestead. My mother took charge of the social calendar for a night on Thursday and we enjoyed an evening in a colonial tavern. We had a wonderful meal and listened to some lovely fife and drum music from Colonial Williamsburg. It was a lot of fun and definitely different.
Friday, we had a nice barbecue outside, minus the barbecue. My old gas grill wasn’t working right, so we cooked inside instead, but at least we sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather and some good music. Saturday, I had some Zoom chats with my friends which were really nice. First, I caught up with my friend Ted, an old friend from my college days at Penn State. The last time I saw Ted was when I was living in Japan and he came for a visit from where he was stationed in Okinawa. It was good to catch up and hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since I saw him last. Then I had a big group chat with my home group of friends so we could collectively raise a glass to our friend Ryan who passed away last week. It was nice to see everyone, and to lean on each other for a while.
Sunday we finished brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer which should be ready to bottle in another week or so. We have enjoyed brewing beer in the past, but I’m usually not home long enough to brew it and bottle it and age it long enough to drink before I leave. Since it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving anytime soon, I’m looking forward to enjoying a good home brew. We chose a nice light Kolch style beer for the summer and I’ll let you know how it turns out. So far it’s looking good!
I did get my shop up and running this weekend. Even if it only currently has ten of my favorite photos in it, I still think it looks good. If you get the chance, take a look HERE and let me know what you think.
Monday I tried to get back into a decent routine and just couldn’t pull myself up out of the funk. I’ve been spending too much time reading the news and looking at my phone lately, and it finally hit me really hard on Monday. I hate seeing the infighting that’s going on in this country right now. I’ve traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the U.S. over the last 20 years and met great people in every corner. People in this country really have so much in common, and most are kind and welcoming. It makes me sad when people find themselves forced into picking sides, forced into this dangerous tribalism that splits the country in half. Have no doubt that this is done on purpose. If instead of focusing on the small differences or even the major issues which we can’t (and maybe never will be able to) agree on, we focused on our commonalities and worked on things we could and would all agree on, we would go so far. There was a brief moment when the majority of people in this country pulled together around this virus and I saw a bit of hope through the gloom, but with an election in November, I knew it wouldn’t last. I implore you to not give in to the hatred. If you’re from Texas, I promise there are amazing people in California and vice-versa. If you live in the city, rural people are wonderful and if you live in the country, city people are too. There are some truly bad people out there as well, and I’ve met them in every state and from every demographic imaginable. But I promise they are the vast but vocal minority, and if we stopped handing them the microphone, their negativity and divisiveness wouldn’t have an audience. Be kind to each other, and empathetic, and always remember that you have never, ever walked a day in anyone else’s shoes. If you took the time to get to know people you wouldn’t normally interact with, be it someone from a different region or country or just someone with a different background than you have, you would probably see them in a different light. And even if you disagreed with something they said or did, you could probably at least understand why they feel like they do.
Feeling depressed and claustrophobic, my mom decided we should take a field trip yesterday, so we did. We went out to Manassas National Battlefield and spent the day doing the walking tour of the Battle of First Manassas (or Bull Run), and then the driving tour of the Battle of Second Manassas. It is always great to spend the day with my mom, and it was incredibly liberating to get out of the neighborhood for a while. There were only a few people out there and we were able to maintain social distancing with no problems. I’d like to see all of the outdoor parks and spaces opened in the country, as I think they are important for our physical and mental health. If people would just take reasonable precautions, I think we would be okay. And I think most people will – at least those who are currently taking reasonable precautions at home. It was great to be out and doing something again, even if it was close to home, and we plan on more excursions in the weeks to come. We finished out the day with Taco Tuesday, margaritas and my mom’s favorite show: NCIS.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m doing some writing and some reading and trying to keep up with my exercise. We’re hoping for nice weather for a few weeks before the heat of summer presses in. I still have no idea when I’ll be back on the road, or in what capacity, but I’m keeping safe and for now that’s all I can ask for. Y’all do the same and I’ll see you next week.
-Mike