Hello Everyone. It’s been an emotional week here in Washington D.C. as I’m sure you can all imagine, but we’re hanging in. I’ve spent a lot of the last week trying to process what happened last Wednesday and reading entirely too much news. I have, of course, still been spending time with my little buddy, Mason, and he continues to grow and learn every day. I’ve also been playing some music this week and trying to increase my exercise level to try and drop some of this pandemic weight. I want to be back in traveling shape when traveling comes back into my life. Overall it’s been a contemplative week and one that I very much hope doesn’t foreshadow what is to come in the days, weeks and months ahead.
My head is still spinning from the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. Much like in the days following 9/11 I’ve been very consumed with the news this week. Of course back then there was no social media, so we at least knew that the stories we read were written by people with an education in their background, a fact checker in their newsrooms and a job/professional integrity to protect. Now it’s just all over the place and it seems there will be no consensus on what happened that day any time soon. Suffice it to say that my personal opinion is that anyone who entered the Capitol that day, unless they were a credentialed journalist, should be arrested, tried and sentenced for unlawful entry and sedition. It seems pretty clear to me that some of the people who went in were prepared, disciplined and intent on causing harm to our Senators and Representatives. Others were simply cartoonish buffoons meant to distract the world with their outfits and juvenile antics. All of them, however, should be sought out and punished to the fullest extent of the law. All Americans, no matter your party, race, religion or background should be appalled by this act. If you don’t like the system, seek to change the system through elections, courts, organization etc. When you seek to overthrow the duly elected government through violence and intimidation, I have no sympathy for you. While I don’t condone any violence which has happened this year by anyone, anywhere, this was the United States Capitol. If people can’t see the difference, I don’t know what to say to them. As the sister story about those charged with defending the Capitol unfolds, I hope we will get a clearer picture as to why and how the Capitol was allowed to be breached in the first place. It didn’t seem like it was a big secret that people were coming to Washington that day intent on causing trouble, and while the vast majority of people who came were peaceful, there was enough of a threat to at least have had the National Guard at the ready. Right now, I hope President Trump will go on television and tell all of those who are planning on coming to the inauguration that if they come with the intention of violence not to do it in his name (he did make a press release today to this effect). January 6th, 2021 is a day that people will be reading about in history books years from now and it really didn’t need to happen.
As we watched people storming through our hallowed halls, I listened to what many of them were saying and it was much the same rhetoric I’ve heard so often over the last few years – something along the lines of “we’re taking our country back”. I can’t help but wonder every time I hear this who this “our” is referring to. Isn’t it my country too? Isn’t it as much Bernie Sanders’ country as it is Mitch McConnell’s country as it is Steve in Detroit’s country? I truly don’t understand this us vs. them mentality and it bothers me. We are all Americans and we need to start acting like we believe this. The two places we can start are fighting this pandemic together and condemning anyone who invades our Capitol building.
Thankfully amidst it all, young Mason has no concerns about politics and has kept me sane as usual through an insane time. The weather has been pretty good this week and we’ve been getting outside when we can. He’s still very enamored with his construction set which he got for Christmas this year, and we have built him a new (imaginary and invisible) house pretty much every day, but I have been able to pry him away from them after a while to get some fresh air. He certainly misses the Christmas decorations around the neighborhood but we are starting to see some buds on the trees and spring will be here before we know it. His sentences are getting longer and he can now count to 19 by himself, although he seems to dislike 4 and 14 so I won’t be playing those numbers in the lottery any time soon. Perhaps the biggest news of the week with Mason is that today and yesterday he managed to poop in the potty. I won’t go into detail, but I know some of y’all out there know how this feels.
Also this week I got a copy of Mel Bay’s Complete Irish Fiddle Player. I’ve started to play some jigs on my fiddle/violin and I’ve really been enjoying it. I think what’s really fun is that these tunes are familiar and not very complicated musically. The real challenge is with the speed of it all. I’m a long way from good, but I’ve really had fun with this and it has given me something away from my computer to concentrate on and it takes me away completely. Don’t expect any online concerts anytime soon, but know I’m enjoying it.
Last week I mentioned that it was Twelfth Night, the traditional start of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We celebrated with a big pot of etouffee, some cold Abita beer and a homemade King Cake courtesy of my mother (who has become a King Cake wizard over the last few years). Then on Friday, we had our weekly celebration as the Phorty Phunny Phellows of Phessenden Street – a tribute to the krewe of the same name which rides down the St. Charles streetcar line every year on Twelfth Night to kick off the Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras comes early this year, so with just a month to celebrate, we’re on it.
On Tuesday my mom and I tried to go on our weekly adventure in the area and had planned on going to Anacostia to see some of the old Civil War Defenses of Washington fort sites (seemed appropriate). We decided to go through downtown and see what kind of fences etc. had been put up. We got almost as far as the Washington Monument before we were turned away. We got stuck in traffic and with limited daylight ended up bailing on our plans and heading to Georgetown instead. We’ve enjoyed exploring Georgetown for months now, and there are always new things to see and new streets to check out. We did some geocaching while we were there this week which we enjoyed – there are always new layers to explore. There is something childishly wonderful about discovering hidden treasures that puts a big smile on my face.
Other than that, as I mentioned, I’ve just been reading the newspapers too much. I’ve thought a lot about America this week and where we’re headed and I hope we can bank left or bank right soon because if we don’t we’re headed for even bigger trouble. If people would stop assuming the worst about each other, that would be a good start. And that’s not even to mention the fact that the pandemic is reaching new peaks and the vaccine is being rolled out by sloths and tortoises. I will be praying for better days ahead.
I did get my van into the shop today as well (a new shop), so I’ll be waiting to hear from them in the next few days as well and hoping for the best. Tonight I’m making a nice steak salad for Dinner and a Movie and we’ll be watching the great Jim Carey classic The Truman Show. The rest of this week I need to get some writing done and hope to continue working on my Irish jigs. I’m hoping on Saturday that we can head out to the Shenandoah Mountains and get out of the city for a few hours. The next week is going to be a rough one here. Inauguration Day is always a challenging day in DC, no matter who wins, but this year it will probably be worse than usual. Please keep your fingers crossed and keep us in your prayers. We, as a country, are better than this. I do hope to be back with you next week, but seeing as that’s THE big day, we’ll just have to wait and see. Thanks, as always, for reading and have a safe week out there my friends.
-Mike