Viewing entries tagged
2020

D.C. Chronicles Volume 48

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 48

Hi Everyone! It’s 70 degrees and sunny out and my window is open here and that alone has really picked up my spirits. It’s been a long and dreary winter and I’m very happy that it’s finally coming to an end (although somehow snow is in the forecast for next week). I’ve gotten myself on the vaccination wait-list here in Washington, so now I’m just waiting to hear back from them which will hopefully be sooner rather than later. I’ve been doubling my walks this week, trying to start losing some of this weight and bring my blood sugar back down to a reasonable level and the improved weather has really helped motivate me for that. My mom’s hip is improving every day since last week’s surgery and Mason and I are both happy to have our feet back in the water. It hasn’t been the most productive week in the world, but it’s been pretty good.

Mason and I have been spending longer and longer outside every day and it’s much easier on both of us to not have to get geared up in the morning. Yesterday I brought a pair of shorts and his water shoes for him to change into, and even though the water was still pretty chilly we both got out into it – me up to my ankles and Mason to his knees. Standing in the creek, pulling rocks out and throwing them – he looked like the happiest kid on the planet. We’re watching signs of spring emerge all around us as the buds are coming out, the geese are flying north and the robins are everywhere. Mason’s cousins taught him that the early flowers blooming now are crocuses, and he happily points them out in all of their beautiful colors. We’ve seen deer in the park on two separate occasions this week, which is a real treat for a city kid, and we keep our ears tilted skyward to listen for woodpeckers. Mason is pretty awesome at identifying birds for a two year-old. We also saw a mounted park police officer this week which was pretty sweet as horses are also not a part of our daily experience here. The list of things Mason has randomly told me he loves has grown to include: blueberries, napkins, pandas, the moon, crocuses, raccoons, jellyfish and airplanes. His vocabulary continues to grow and his sentences are more complete every day. Tomorrow I am off to meet him at his new house for the first time which I think we’re both looking forward to. I went and scouted out the woods nearby over the weekend and have found plenty of places for us to get our feet wet, touch mushrooms and explore.

Last Friday, my folks and I had to move our weekly celebration up to the second floor because my mom was still in a lot of pain from her hip surgery on Tuesday. I was hoping she could come down to the first floor and we could enjoy some Swiss culture in front of the fireplace, but she wasn’t up to it so we came to her instead. I made us some delicious traditional fondue and we listened to some Swiss folk and alpenhorn music. I have spent a fair bit of time in Switzerland in my life, and it was nice to think of some of the beautiful places I’ve been there. I hope to see more of it sooner rather than later.

Saturday was a really wonderful day outside and I spent a lot of time in my van. A lot of the things I’ve been working on are small things, but it was nice to get a bunch of them accomplished and cross them off my to-do list. I’m going to spend some time showing y’all the inside of my van soon and will try and explain what everything is and how it all works when I’m on the road. It really is an interesting process and lifestyle and I’m eager to invite you all over for a virtual look in the months to come.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 40

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 40

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…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 36

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 36

Hello Everyone! We are now just over three weeks away from 2021! I, for one, will welcome the New Year with open arms and a heart full of hope for a better year for us all. For all of the challenges 2020 has brought both to me personally and to us collectively, I continue to be grateful for the blessings in my life and the opportunities that have come along as well. It’s been an amazing experience to spend time with a 2 year-old and a 13 year-old and help them along in whatever way I could this year. I’ve also gotten to spend a lot of time with my folks here in Washington and know that I’m helping keep them safe and vice-versa. I’ve also been grateful to have some time to explore my hometown more than I ever have before which has brought me a lot of joy and contentment. While I’m looking forward to getting a vaccine and getting back on the road as soon as possible in 2021, I will always look back at this year as a time I was able to stop, reflect on the blessings I have in this life and make real plans for the future.

Speaking of a vaccine, there’s definitely been good news this week on that front. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved and the first shots administered in the UK. Approval should be right around the corner here in the US, and then the long and slow process of administering it can begin. I read yesterday morning that the FDA’s initial perusal of the application for approval was extremely positive. I know there are plenty of people out there who have read a lot of whacky things regarding the upcoming vaccine and vaccines in general for that matter. With all the travel I’ve done in my life, I’ve gotten every vaccine available and will gladly step to the front of the line for this one. I have plenty of family and friends in the medical industry and they have their people who they listen to and trust. If they tell me this is a go, I’m in. I simply don’t have time to waste on conspiracy theories and look forward to moving ahead with my life.

This week has been another busy week with my 2 year-old buddy, Mason. I’m happy that he’s continued to want to go outside and play despite the temperatures dropping into the thirties and forties. We bundle up tight but we’ve still been getting outside and going for long walks in neighborhood. He really loves running through the big piles of leaves and spent today sitting in one and just throwing the leaves up and watching them float down. It was a joy to watch him enjoying such a simple pleasure so much, and he’s definitely gotten me to run through more leaf piles than I have in many a year. We continue to look for berries, acorns and pretty colored leaves and he has been good about having me take off his mittens so he can grab these treasures and then letting me put them back on immediately after. We’ve also been having fun watching dead leaves float down the stream in the park as well, which really is pretty cool. He’s enjoying the few Christmas decorations which have sprung up around the neighborhood this week, but is particularly fond of his Christmas tree at home and loves showing me all the different ornaments and the stocking his grandmother sent him. Today we were reading the Night Before Christmas, and he is starting to recognize “Danda” (Santa). In one picture with Santa and his reindeer he was telling me that the reindeer were named Nick and Matt which are his cousin’s names (Nick is the young man I tutor on Mondays). I couldn’t figure it out, and then realized the text talks about “St. Nick” and the only Nick he knows is his cousin. Since he knows who Santa is, the reindeer must be the Nick they keep referring to and since Nick and Matt are twins, his brother must be one of the other reindeer. At least that’s how my mind processed what he said. Either way, he’s enjoying the holiday season so far and I’m enjoying it right alongside him.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 35

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 35

Hello Everyone! It’s December! That means 2020 is almost over and it’s Christmas season which are both things that make me happy. It’s definitely getting dark early these days which is not my favorite thing in the world. While I love the nighttime and the dark, I really prefer my daylight to stretch until at least 6. Thankfully it’s only three weeks until the Winter Solstice and then we can start looking towards springtime. The good thing about it getting dark earlier this time of year is that it means more time to see the beautiful Christmas lights and displays in people’s yards. I do love Christmas lights and I know from how many decorations were up for Halloween that this year will be bigger than usual. If you’re still looking for some holiday gifts for friends and family, don’t forget about my beautiful Cloudland Canyon wooden jigsaw puzzle available here from Wentworth Puzzle Company. And if you have any photos of mine that you like, I’d be happy to sell you a print or a beautiful aluminum art piece. You can check out prices at my store here, and know that I can do any photo you want, not just the ones featured there – don’t hesitate to reach out and we can make it happen.

I had a big little win this week which definitely made me smile. At the very beginning of this adventure when I was trying to build a blog from the tiny fishing village I lived in in Japan, I started to look for web addresses which would suit the project. I have always loved the Robert Frost poem which inspired the name for this blog, and was trying to figure out how to make it all work. When I looked up milestogobeforeisleep.com, it was available, but for a cost of like $1500. No page would be worth that to me, so I settled on its catchy but somewhat more complicated twin, miles2gobeforeisleep.com. I’m still happy with that decision, but the “2” can make it harder for people to remember etc. I’ve kept my eye on that page for ten years now and last week whoever owned it finally gave up the ghost and I snatched it up the very next day. It’s kind of silly at this point, but like I said it was a very small victory and it made me happy.

I also had a really nice offer come in this week from my friend Kim who owns and operated Up The Keys tours in Key West. She is planning on doing some sailing for a few months this winter and wanted to know if I would come and run her business for her while she was gone. It was a wonderful offer and I was very touched and humbled that she would ask, and who wouldn’t want to spend the winter in Key West? Any other time and I would jump at this, but I’m just not comfortable with guiding tours right now, not until I get a vaccine which is hopefully just months away at this point. I think I’m here in D.C. until that happens, which I’m not unhappy about, but I will be dreaming of the Keys for the next few weeks. I know when the time is right that something great will come along. It always does for me.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last Thursday with my brother and his family in New Hampshire. He cooked up a real feast and I was definitely impressed with his cooking ability. It was a day of food and festivity and a very relaxed one at that…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 21

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 21

Hello Everyone, another week has come and gone here in Washington. Rains have brought cooler temperatures and I’ve been out taking lots of photos and hanging out with my favorite two year old. It’s been a fast week – they just seem to be speeding up on me. I guess routine will do that to a person. I’ve been very spoiled in my life to usually be doing so much over the course of a week that they often stretch out and feel longer than they are. Now the opposite seems true. I’m still happy to be healthy and safe and home with my people. It’s not a bad place to be or a bad group to be with, I just wish I knew there was an end date to all of this so I could make some concrete plans. Sometimes I find myself making travel plans just to be making travel plans because it’s something I’m used to doing. I guess that’s not a bad thing and it keeps me in practice. I’ve been reading Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing this week and have been enjoying it. It came recommended by two of my friends so I thought I’d give it a go. I don’t usually read a lot of fiction because there’s so much great non-fiction in the world, but this book is pretty quiet and reminds me of some of the beautiful places I’ve visited in coastal Carolina. It’s been a nice break. A few nice walks in the park as well have made it a pretty good week.

I’ve had a couple of nice days enjoying some time with Mason, my friends’ two year old son who I wrote about last week. I’m watching him a couple of times a week and really having fun with it. He’s a really sweet little boy and I love to see him laugh and smile and make connections in his head. We play with his trucks and read books together and when the sun is out we can go for a walk or a bike ride. He’s brought me a lot of joy over the last few weeks and reminds me that while the past is past, the future is yet to be written. I hope his will be a bright one in a healthy world and a country which celebrates its differences instead of destroys itself over them. At one point last week, the sun was shining in the back room where we play and he looked up and started catching things. I thought he was just playing, but soon realized that he was going after tiny strands of the dog’s hair which were floating in the afternoon sun. I couldn’t help but think what a magical world this is through his eyes. Spending time with him is special and will probably end up being the best part of this pandemic.

Friday we did our usual rounds to the grocery store and whatever other errands we needed to run for the week. That night we gathered to celebrate some wonderful Washington D.C. traditions. We had some half-smokes (traditional D.C. half pork – half beef sausages) with a chili sauce I tried to copy from Ben’s Chili Bowl, a local institution. We had some mambo wings – using sweet and tangy mambo sauce, another D.C. tradition. We listened to the sounds of Chuck Brown and Experience Unlimited and others who made our local gogo style of music, which never spread too far outside the beltway. We listened to others too, from Duke Ellington to Marvin Gaye to Fugazi and back again, which have brought our local musical talent to the masses. Friends have been sending me some things to help enhance our parties from all over the country, and it was fun to incorporate some into our weekly celebration…

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Snapshots: Richmond's Confederate Monuments Toppled

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Snapshots: Richmond's Confederate Monuments Toppled

I took these photos last week in the midst of the Confederate statue removal process in the old Confederate Capital of Richmond. It was a unique time to visit because some of the statues had already been removed, one of JEB Stuart was in the process of being removed and the two central ones to Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis still stood, although both have been slated for removal.

In taking these photos I wanted to capture the spirit of the protests which ultimately have led to the conversation over the removal of these statues, so I have included some close-up shots of the graffiti. Some of the graffiti is targeted towards police brutality while some supports the Black Lives Matter movement.

I am of the opinion that these statues cannot continue to stand in these central places in our nation’s cities. While there are aspects of all of these men which I admire and respect, the cause for which they fought was ultimately the continuation of slavery in perpetuity. There are places for these statues as I believe all art tells a story, but the story currently being told isn’t a complete one and needs to be adjusted with our current understanding of history. These statues coming down isn’t erasing history, it is history.

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