Hello Everyone! January is passing quickly here in Washington. The short, cold days have not been inspiring this week, but I’m trying to stay positive and productive. I’m still keeping a close watch on case and hospitalization numbers across the south and when they start to go down, I’m going to be ready to hit the road. I’m definitely thinking the beginning of February. I do feel like I’ve been dodging and weaving as more of my friends come down with Covid, but I’m still managing to avoid it. Between my diabetes and the age of my folks, I definitely am not in the “just get it over with” camp. I feel like if I can head south and into warmer temperatures, I can spend most of my time outside like I did this summer and I still think my risks are acceptable if I’m outside. I have been hitting the gym every day and punching away at some of my projects this week, but I’ve mostly been hanging out at home and trying to stay warm. I did finally finish (for now) my gallery pages from this summer and fall’s trip to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was fun to look back at these photos and the memories of the last six months as I got these together. I hope you get the chance to check them out – you can find them at these links:
Last Wednesday after I finished this post, I went back to music night with the boys. It was apparently British Invasion Night and the Beatles were heavily featured. It was nice to be there and I just wish I was good enough at playing an instrument to join in. I should have spent more time this summer and fall practicing, but I have a feeling in the months to come I may have plenty of time on my hands for just that. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever play a concert or a gig, but I would like to be good enough to join a jam session and just make some nice music.
Old House on King St in Leesburg
On Thursday I went downtown to have lunch with my friends Estilla and Joby. Unfortunately the place they wanted to go was closed so we ended up wandering into Chinatown for some sushi. It wasn’t the best sushi I’ve ever had, but the company was good and we had a fun time. I hope to catch up with them in a couple of weeks in New Orleans, but we’ll see how it all goes.
Friday night we had our neighbors over for a few beers. They both like beer, so I had brought a 12-pack of New Glarus back from Wisconsin to share with them, but we just haven’t had the time to sit down and enjoy them. It’s always nice to chat with them as they are interesting people and bring shared values but a different perspective to the table. We chatted for a few hours talking about the pandemic, politics, travel, baseball, family and probably several other topics I’m forgetting. It was an enjoyable evening.
Saturday my mom and I went over to watch Mason so his dad could take his mom out to dinner for her birthday. We had a great time as usual and it’s always great to hang out with my little buddy. I showed him all kinds of pictures from the adventures we had together last year, but he doesn’t really remember any of that. He was intrigued though and quietly ate his dinner while we looked. Afterwards we played with one of his Christmas presents for an hour or so before bedtime. While my mom put him to bed, I went down the road and grabbed us a Detroit-style pizza from Little Beast in Chevy Chase. It wasn’t as good as the ones I ate at Buddy’s in Michigan this summer, but it really wasn’t bad and I would definitely get their pizza again. There aren’t as many good pizza places in this town as there should be. When James and Kara got home, we chatted for a little while before calling it a night.
King Street in Historic Leesburg
Sunday was going to be cold with a wintry mix of snow and frozen rain, so it was definitely an inside kind of day. We all slept in a little bit but when I got up I cooked us up some delicious Pain Perdue (New Orleans style French toast) for breakfast. I spent the rest of the morning watching TV, something that rarely happens in my world (which I’m grateful for). In the afternoon we reconvened in the kitchen to drink some beers and cook up a big pot of gumbo. The last few times I’ve made gumbo, I’ve used okra to thicken it up and been really happy with the results, but this time I wanted to reduce it down instead and then throw in some filé powder instead. It came out really well and we all enjoyed two big bowls with potato salad and some cold beers. Putting potato salad in your gumbo is a hotly contested subject in Louisiana. I had never had gumbo with potato salad before, but I’ve been enjoying watching Stalecracker cook on his social media platforms and he insisted we try it. My mom was particularly skeptical, but she went along with it as well. I must admit, it adds a creaminess to the texture and the potatoes, which are cooked to make the potato salad but not boiled to death in the gumbo, were a really nice addition. I have to give it a thumbs-up. We have enough left over for one bowl each and we’ll probably go with rice for that one, but I’m definitely glad we tried it the Cajun way. The snow did come in the afternoon, and then turned to sleet, then rain, then snow again. I was definitely glad I was not out in it, and especially not on the road. It was nice to be inside with a cold beer, some good music and a steaming pot of gumbo.
Thankfully the snow didn’t accumulate too much, but it was definitely a slushy mess to shovel on Monday morning. It didn’t take long, though. I spent much of the rest of the day trying to get some work done on a site to sell some of my photos. I don’t know if it will work out or not, but I figured I’d give something different a try. I’ve been working on it and I’ll pass the link on to you next week, but so far it seems like it may be a good situation. I’m probably not going to make millions off of it, but it’d be nice to make a few dollars. Monday night we got together and played a round of Carcassonne, one of the games which we played often last year in the heart of the pandemic. When we finished, it was still early so we played some Skip-Bo as well. It was definitely fun to play some games and while I think all three of us were feeling the blues it was nice to be together.
Getting my winter plans together
I spent much of Tuesday working on my plan for my upcoming trip to New Mexico. I laid out my map on the dining room table and compiled all of my notes and all of the suggestions which my friends have offered into one place. While I always want to leave time for whatever comes up on the road, it’s nice to have a plan to work from. Once I can put everything onto a road map, I can start to visualize my route through the state. Seeing as I will be arriving in the winter, I will definitely be starting in the south of the state and working my way north. It may warm up a little by the time I get to the mountains. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some beautiful scenery and being back in the desert southwest for a while. If you have any tips or ideas for New Mexico, please drop a comment or shoot me a message. I appreciate it.
I hit the gym this morning and then my folks and I took off for a visit to Leesburg, Virginia. We had a wonderful lunch at Shoes, Cups and Corks which is a delightful little café in a building that has been everything from a grocery store to a shoe store over the years. After lunch I wandered over to the county courthouse to take a few photos and try out a new lens I got for Christmas. Then we drove over to Ball’s Bluff which was the site of a very small and very early Civil War skirmish which resulted in the death of Senator (and Colonel) Edward Baker, the only congressman to be killed in battle during the entire war. We enjoyed the drive out and back along Georgetown Pike but were a bit taken aback at all of the monstrous mansions that have gone up out there in recent years. I simply can’t imagine who would need houses that big. This evening I went for dinner with my friend Carolina and then headed over for music night with the guys. It’s been a long day but a nice day and I will definitely be ready for bed when I get this posted.
And that’s about what’s been happening this week. As I said at the beginning, it’s been pretty quiet around here. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back on the road, and I think that time is finally approaching. As much as I love being here with my friends and family, I have so many things I want to see this winter, and it’s about time I get on with it. I am going to continue spending as much time as I can with my people here in the next few weeks while planning and packing continues. This week I hope to catch up with one of my old college friends and to go hit up a couple of places with my folks as well. I’m going to continue to wear my mask and keep my distance though, and I hope you’ll do the same. Take care out there, my friends, and have a great week. I’ll see you right back here, same time next week. Thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike