Even hotter!
last update: 07/04 @ 17:55

We drove down to Jones Point to see if we could see the flyovers.

We could, sort of; they were a long way away.

But it did offer shade under the Woodrow Wilson bridge.

Which was important as it’s really hot out there.

After that excursion, we’re happy to be back in our air conditioned home.

The Fourth of July in DC is very unappealing this year.

Beyond the heat, there is extra security to get onto the mall as part of the extremely underwhelming “State Fair.”

And then the fireworks coming later than normal this year are trying to break the world record for most shells exploded. That provoked warnings about extremely unhealthy air quality with all the smoke and particulates likely hanging around under the heat dome.

We’re happy to skip that.

It’s hot here!
last update: 07/02 @ 17:04

The promised “heat dome” has arrived in force.

I’m glad I got out earlier in the week when it was about 15 degrees cooler (and it was likely less humid as well).

Today was a really good day to stay inside with a lap kitty and good book :)

I Voted
last update: 06/23 @ 18:50

As I’m currently scheduled to work the August 4th primary election, and the weather was cool under the clouds, I voted early today.

Now I’m waiting to see if Robert will give me an excuse to skip my (long) day at the polling place 8/4.

He is planning to get a job and stay in Seattle or, perhaps, stay in Seattle and get a job — the order is not clear.

Either way, he has to be out of his UW apartment by late August. We offered to help move out (either into a new place in the greater Seattle hood or back east if he’d prefer — which he does not).

So the timing of that move will likely impact my election day shift.

Either way, I’ve done my civic duty, and you should too if you have primaries coming up.

Bridge update
last update: 05/30 @ 14:13

Time for a construction update.

This is the second weekend of work closing down King Street and working overnight.

The first weekend, they cut out a section of track 3 (closest to our house) and added some supports below it before putting it back.

This weekend, it’s track 2 (currently in the middle — the eventual outcome will be 4, rather than 3 tracks). I didn’t look closely enough last time to see but they are doing similar work over both King and Commonwealth this time.

Clearly, they have a lot of faith in the switches north and south of us to keep trains off the interrupted tracks.

I invested another $2 to get up on the metro platform for a better view, and happened to be there as they moved another steel section into place to bang it into the ground.

They use what I call a jiggler on the three sided pieces and then get out the pile driver for the round posts.

Sarah and I wish the pile drive beat was a bit faster sometimes — it’s too slow for I’ve been working on the railroad.

I’m sure I’ll get tired of checking what they are up to and guessing what will come next. But I’m not there yet. (I wouldn’t mind quieter construction, of course.)

And they seemed to mismark the detour yesterday; we had a lot of traffic going the wrong way down Sunset but no accidents we’re aware of.

Closing King Street
last update: 05/02 @ 11:05

Last night started the first of three weekends we’ve been warned of when the are closing down the street for the bridge construction.

I went to go take a peek just as the drizzle came in.

Clearly, they are getting ready for substantial work — and that getting ready requires a lot of standing around.

For this weekend, King Street is closed, Commonwealth will come later. And they promise to keep Sunset Drive open for local traffic.

Glad we’re not due to be trapped on the street.

The plans I’ve seen talk about two year, so it will be interesting to see what all get’s done this weekend.

Also, I’m curious how Monday’s rush hour goes: they plan to keep King Street closed through 10pm Monday. That’s going to be rough.

I’m from the government again (sort of) …
last update: 04/18 @ 20:09

… and I’m here to help (on a limited number of days).

I took this early morning photo of the cranes this morning on my way to special election early voting in Alexandria.

I volunteered to be an election officer and was trained up late last month. Sarah voted in the early voting line last weekend and reported the line was long.

There was a call out to volunteers to try to staff up this weekend. Which turned out to be a good thing as it was Alexandria’s record for single polling place turnout: 2351 votes cast today.

I’m curious to see how Tuesday goes. That’s the regular voting day for this special election. And I’m curious to see if I’m up for working in November after having worked a regular voting day.

Better view
last update: 04/16 @ 10:42

I was heading in to DC and so took advantage of being on the metro platform to get a better look at the construction.

They are clearly jamming some steel pretty far down into the ground — which explains the shaking house.

I’m curious just what will become of these. I think this is going to be a temporary retaining wall so they can excavate the foundation for the new bridge.

But when I was standing around waiting to see what the welders were up to on the way home, someone also wandering by on the sidewalk wondered if the new bridge was going to be that high.

That would make for some impressive grade for the train tracks!

I wonder if they are going to “get a bigger hammer” to push those deeper of if 20 - 25 feet deep is enough (I think that’s what the numbers mean on the side of the beams).

While lot a shakin’ going on
last update: 04/14 @ 14:42

They are not using (not yet?) a pile driver so we don’t get the Bang… Bang… Bang… We’re getting more of a constant GGRRRRR as these steel beams go into the ground.

And it’s impressive to feel: much like a massage chair. Our next door neighbor, Laura, shared a short video clip of her dishes shaking on their shelves.

We took a walk by this afternoon and Sarah and I are still wondering exactly what this part of the construction is about.

Final note of the day: While we have three cranes on site, so far it’s really only been one them doing any work. We’ll see when that changes.

Prevailing Winds
last update: 03/30 @ 16:19

According to our now three cranes, the prevailing winds are coming from the left (north).

I’m not sure that’s really how it works, but they do seem to all be generally pointed the same way while they are at rest.

We’re waiting to see if three will be the full compliment. So far it does not look like they are building any more crane platforms; maybe three will be enough.

Pair, sort of
last update: 03/28 @ 13:53

The second big, red crane is ready to go now. We’re feeling a little nervous looking out the back door at the two crane arms that seem to loom over the backyard.

That pine tree in the middle of this picture is the one above the treehouse platform Robert and I built a decade ago.

Oh, and there is now a big, yellow crane just across King Street — maybe they will grab the bridge by both ends and tug :)

Two Dollar Photo
last update: 03/24 @ 11:39

Actually, I paid $2.25 to pop onto the metro platform for this.

Now the big, red crane is building a medium, red crane. This is not helpful for doing regular chores. They keep doing cool things in the backyard (our backyard is behind the first K in Kokosing on the right-hand crane).

Maybe that new crane will turn out to be the same size, but now, it’s a bit smaller than the first red crane that grew back there.

And yes, this is an update for “you know who” in the comments to the earlier post.

Spring has sprung
last update: 03/21 @ 13:17

Alexandria may not have the tidal basin or UW’s quad (see halfway down this page) for cherry blossoms, but we do have some.

This is on the grounds of the GW Masonic Memorial, where I wandered by it today on a stroll in the beautiful, spring weather.

It takes a crane …
last update: 03/20 @ 17:15

… to build a crane.

Hard to see from our backyard, but the work on replacing the train bridges is getting serious. They cleared all the trees and brush from the siding and now the heavy equipment is moving in.

We thought the excavator and bulldozer were the heavy equipment — they were just preparing a solid platform for the big, red crane.

But to get the big, red crane in place, they brought it in in pieces and have been spending the last few days putting it together (with its little brother, the white crane).

It’s been fascinating to watch.

The view from the train station, looking across King Street is a bit better.

I think they finished this afternoon and the white crane has moved on now.

Still cold!
last update: 01/31 @ 17:44

Sarah decided today was the day to check out the ice on river.

While it was about 20 degrees it was not windy.

Tomorrow we’re due for gusts to 35mph or so — making windchills that are formally wicked cold.

Today was cold, but we were well bundled.

And while we walk by pretty much every time we head down to the river, today we went inside an open house for the Alexandria Seaport Foundation. (Not pictured, their building is just to the left and a little ways back from the old propeller in the photo on the right.)

We know them as the wooden boat builders on the waterfront. (Before it got too cold, they were working on “Dave” outside.)

They seem like very nice folks and Alexandria is fortunate to have that resource (which we knew nothing about before today).

I suspect we’ll stay hunkered down at home tomorrow — and send warm thoughts to family further south where the next snowstorm is hitting.

Thank you Sarah for the nudge to get outside, and for asking if I got a shot of the Capitol — that spurred me to take off my gloves (again) and put on the longer lens so it might be visible.

(Now I need to pay more attention to the level in the viewfinder so that the photos are straighter.)

(For those with a long memory — we did not get out the canoe today.)

Snow and Ice
last update: 01/29 @ 11:57

Last Sunday we got dumped on. I didn’t measure but I esitmate about 6 inches of snow then maybe a quarter inch of sleet, freezing rain and ice.

This was the view when I work up Sunday morning.

That was all snow and not too bad to shovel; though there was a fair amount.

As I was making a second pass shoveling, I felt the sleet falling and hoped that would be short lived.

Fortunately, Sarah decided to stay an extra day with Michelle in Long Island. They stretched out the Michelle’s birthday celebration for another day.

I shoveled and hacked at the ice a bit on Monday and made some progress. But in some spots, the solid ice is just too thick to really make an impact.

I did consider getting a bigger hammer — I thought the firewood splitting maul would work well — but I worried about the concrete and brick underneath the ice.

And I discovered a new injury: I managed to bruise the bottom of my foot by stomping on the shovel so much to break up the ice. It’s not painful but is a bit swollen, which makes walking and standing feel like there is something under my foot.

Sarah made it home Monday evening, reporting the roads were fine pretty much the whole way to the beltway. That’s as far north as the ice got.

We hacked out a parking place for her and then enjoyed beef stew (my other Monday project) in our cozy home.

The forecast says highs in the 20s for the next several days, maybe another round of snow (I really hope no ice) this weekend and then “warming” to the mid 30s next week.

In the meantime, I felt for the birds and refilled our feeder.

I really miss precedented times
last update: 01/11 @ 17:06

Sarah and I added our voices and faces to this afternoon’s anti-ICE protest in Alexandria (again). It really is appalling to see what can happen in our country. I wish I felt like there was more I could control about the actions our government is taking; supporting and voting (for sane politicians who seem to understand the Constitution) does not seem like enough.

Christmas photos
last update: 01/10 @ 14:08

We had a trip right after Christmas (more on that later) and so I’m a bit late in posting Christmas photos. It was a very nice, mellow, family-focused holiday in Alexandria. More photos in the trips section.

Local Rally
last update: 09/01 @ 11:19

Pretty good turnout for our local Melt ICE rally this morning.

And it was educational: we didn’t realize our sheriff was voluntarily collaborating with ICE. We have an election coming up in a couple months now…

Happy Birthday Alexandria!!!
last update: 07/12 @ 22:21

Alexandria always puts on a good show.

And for the 276th birthday, they kept up the tradition.

It was pretty hot so we decided on Casa Rosada gelato and watching from the Masonic Memorial rather than walking down to the river.

The show as great.

And the crowd was pretty fun.

There seemed to be a full 4th grade class there.

And there was a lot of “hut, hut, hutting” up and down the steps before the fireworks.

I expect there will be some heavy sleeping 4th graders tonight.

And Sarah and I were very happy for the very short walk home.

Sometime soon the heat and humidity will give us a break.

I hope.

Quick Robert Visit
last update: 06/12 @ 15:35

Robert’s home!!!

With an internship lined up for the summer, in addition to working for the Tempest/Cascades and Lumen Field, we’re getting a Robert visit in while we can. He’s now a senior!!!

Crazy!

We took advantage of the visit for an early father’s day and I’m fortunate to have several cool gifts:

• new music: Colter Wall; I’m liking his Imaginary Appalachia
• Blazin’ Raisen hot sauce (I’ve not tried yet)
• Dilettante’s chocolate (always a tasty treat)
• A Bird Buddy bird feeder with camera (as you can see).

While he was here, Robert had chance to try his hand at a Metro Speedrun:

The goal is to see how fast you can get through every metro station.

His time (see below), just over 8 hours, is very respectable. The ways to get faster, 7:34 is the current record, involve starting at the ideal station (Greenbelt, in Maryland) at the idea time to catch an express transfer bus between the suburban Maryland stations.

If you have questions, he’ll gladly clue you in :)

Pocket joined him for the first leg on her way in to work. And I joined for the first few stations just because :) I can now say I’ve been to the Franconia / Springfield and Huntington stations.

Ask Robert for his Insta Story for more details.

We like our mayor
last update: 06/06 @ 23:34

We remain really happy with our new mayor, Alyia Gaskins. We were very happy with Justin Wilson as well; both work really hard.

I was glad to be able to hear Alyia and the other speakers at the common sense gun rally at the market square today.

Lot’s of good reasons to better control gun onwership in this country.

It’s like this see…
last update: 05/14 @ 20:33

… The forecast made it sound like a rainy day today. With Sarah not having any meetings and me being, well, retired, we took advantage of where we live and metroed in to the American History Museum. It had been almost a full Robert lifetime since we’d been :)

As we headed back to the metro we stopped for a bite and bit of tea from Teaism and we got a call from Robert. He has the chance for extra credit if he can produce an illustrated map of where sewage flows.

He gets normal credit for an illustrated map of the flow from his dorm in Seattle to Seattle’s waste water treatment facility at Discovery Point.

But he was wondering if his parents could take a few photos for him to work on an Alexandria map. Like Hooff’s Run where storm water flows through Alexandria.

The forecast was wrong, it was not rainy and we were on our way back home anyway so …

… we learned that the waste water plant we thought treated our water actually doesn’t. That is for Arlington and Alexandria has it’s own treatment plant, which is getting substantially upgraded (thanks our and our neighbors waste water bills).

And we found this cool public art noting how Alexandria was exepcted to be (and was, for a while) a major shipping port (in the cities early days). With lots of traffic to Hispaniola, Barbados, Jamaica and Bermuda (I may have to go back and re-read that to be sure I’ve remembered that correctly).

We never would have stumbled upon that globe with it’s bit of history if we’d not been on the little expedition for Robert this afternoon.

Got out the sleds…
last update: 01/06 @ 17:41

We’re likely to be down to one after this season. This green one is going strong; our red/orange boogie-board style is showing it’s age, sadly.

This one is clearly much faster and tracks further.

And, as you see from Sarah’s expression, is really fun!

Snowy Day
last update: 01/06 @ 11:57

We’re in a little bit of a lull in today’s snow.

But it’s the most we’ve had in years already.

I’m sorry Robert’s now here to enjoy it.

Sarah and I have date to go sledding later this afternoon.

Christmas notes
last update: 01/04 @ 13:55

More photos and a few more details of our Christmas are in the Vacations Section (even though we stayed in Alexandria).

Happy New Year!!!
last update: 01/01 @ 13:24

We enjoyed celebrating the New Year with Will’s family. The tradition of a countdown and balloon drop around 9:30 is great for the younger generation and helps to bridge the time to midnight for those staying up.

And then we headed to the Masonic Memorial to watch Alexandria’s excellent fireworks show.

It was pretty odd for it be so warm, low 50s, but that gets corrected in a few days. Oddly, just after Robert heads back to Seattle, the temps are due to dive down to daytime highs around 35.

So we’ll enjoy the warmth while we can.

New this year, there was this interesting ice sculpture by the steps. I don’t known anything about it.

Not new this year, ate our 12 grapes under the table, we swept our troubles off the front and back porches, and ran around the house 3 times with a bit of luggage.

We should be all set for good luck for the year.

Yellow and Blue
last update: 12/27 @ 14:07

Nice day for a walk around Alexandria.

And I liked the way the Cherry Blossom’s wheel looked framed within the back deck of one of the Potomac Water Taxis.

I guess it was the variety of yellows and oranges that drew my attention.

I happened to bring my “real” camera, so these are not cellphone photos. I wish I’d thought to try to use that as well to compare the two.

On the way back up Cameron Street, I liked the neighborhood’s endorsement of their Scottish heritage.

I stayed in for the Scottish Walk this year, but Sarah was out to represent the SFA. One of this years we’ll catch up with the McNaughton clan.

It’s beginning to look a lot like…
last update: 12/15 @ 18:53

…Christmas!!! Of Course!

Tonight, with a bit of cold rain here and sleet and snow around us, we lit the first fire of the season.

Seems like a perfect evening for it.

We picked up a tree yesterday (always fun to say no thanks to the offer of help tying it on the car: “we’ll just carry it home”).

And then we decorated it during the Commanders football game.

It’s great to have Robert home for the holidays.

He flew back Friday evening (unfortunately with an ear infection).

We were all glad the local Christmas tree patch (benefiting the Alexandria City Police Youth Camp) still had plenty of nice trees yesterday.

It’s most fun if we all three get to pick out our tree.

And that ensures someone (Sarah) will be available to take a picture as we walk the tree home.

This time we met a family with a toddler on our walk back; it was fun to hear the “Are they carrying a Christmas tree?” as we walked by.

Now we’ll need to add some presents under the tree over the next few days of general relaxation.

Well… Relaxation for Robert and I, Sarah joins the Library of Congress Federal Research Division on Monday!

Good reminder…
last update: 11/21 @ 11:57

I know our NC family and friends learned this with hurricane Helene: running water is modern luxury that is way too easy to take for granted.

Our water company is working on lead pipe remediation; it sounds like it will be a long term project. Our service line was scheduled for today.

I’m guessing having a ditch across the road may impact leaf, trash and recycling collection. More modern luxuries it’s good to remember to be thankful for.

Bonus points: I think the digging is complete and no impact the recently installed fiber line!

Happy Birthday Alexandria!!!
last update: 07/13 @ 22:27

It was a little hot and steamy out, but a lovely display.

And it’s hard to beat being able to walk down the waterfront to see the fireworks up close.

This time we were in Founders Park, just downstream from the stage and bigger crowds.

That seemed to work out well; but I would have paid for cold bottle of water if there had been any vendors around.

He’s Back!!!
last update: 06/16 @ 12:25

Classes over, Robert came home to Alexandria.

Sadly, not for the summer.

But for a very nice week-long break.

We had fun hanging out together.

And it was great that his trip happened to coincide with Father’s day (thank you for the Bluetooth meat thermometer which I’m sure to start using soon).

We even had a rematch of the Catan game with Pocket; Robert won.

But he’s headed back to Seattle for the summer.

He has some more work with the Ultimate Frisbee teams there, and is hoping to line up another summer job as Frisbee still leaves most of his time free.

Sarah and I really enjoyed having Robert back in the house and were sorry to see him go. But he truly is adulting well.

Christmas photos
last update: 01/03 @ 15:05

Sadly for us, Robert had to go back to school. We had a lot of fun while he was here and I expect we’ll start plotting our next trip out that way soon.

There are some more photos in the vacations section.

Happy 2024!!!
last update: 01/01 @ 00:51

Hoping for a GREAT year!

It was fantastic to have Robert join us for the fireworks, grapes under the table, sweeping the porches and running around the house.

You know, the usual :)

Also very nice to be invited to Will, Rob, Christine and Cassie’s house for their balloon drop party.

Merry Christmas!!!
last update: 12/25 @ 13:08

We mostly waited patiently for Christmas this year.

There were some catnip treats Robert found for Panzer that he was interested in.

But no early unwrapping.

It was great to wake up and wander down to reveal all the fun gifts. Surprisingly, Robert was up before us.

The second time since he’s been home this trip; the first time he was still getting over the travel.

And now he’s back taking a nap.

I’ll have more photos to post later.

Cold water, warm air
last update: 12/10 @ 15:47

The rains arrived overnight, along with warmer air from the south. That, combined, with the cold Potomac, resulted in some impressive river fog.

Sarah and I walked down to take a look this afternoon between the early rain and the expected storms this evening.

It was a pretty odd site, hard to capture: dense fog from the surface of the river to about 20 feed above it, then it cleared out (but under cloudy skies, harder to see).

Three Brothers
last update: 10/28 @ 19:08

With the three of us together, we recreated a great picture Bob Martindale took in Seattle decades ago.

There is a bit less hair now but we tried to get the right pose…

And as Steve and Helen had a bit more time with us, we took them on our walk to the river. We did a little extra meandering and Steve’s tracker said it was just about 4 miles.

Not the normal trek he tracks — this was clearly an urban walk.

But we got to watch a little bit of work on Alexandria’s tall ship (someone was working near the top of the mast) and the weather and views did not disappoint.

Of course the chance to visit and hang out was the best part of the long weekend.

Winner
last update: 01/28 @ 17:54

The new camera bag seems like a winner.

The hip strap and rain cover showed up this week and I tried out the clip on a walk down to the river.

For me, on the shoulder strap is more comfortable than on the hip belt. And while it’s very convenient, it’s not where I’d keep my camera all the time. Good for getter around places you want to take pictures while the bag stays on your back.

But still a bit off feeling. Maybe it would be a bit better without the faux-motor-drive-battery-pack; but I like never having to think about changing the battery.

Mt. Vernon
last update: 01/22 @ 15:56

We had a free weekend.

And I just got a new bag for my camera.

So we headed to Mt. Vernon as it’s been a while since we were there. It provided three tests: a bit of walking around, tighter quarters (with the other folks and the roped off portions of the house) and access to the camera.

I’m not yet ready to call the new bag perfection. But it is a worthy successor.

I have a couple more optional additions on order from Peak Design to finish my set up.

First impression: the side access while still on one shoulder works OK. I’m still figuring out how my camera (with faux motor-drive-extra-battery) wants to sit in the bag. And I worry I’m going to lose the lens cap more easily now. (I’ve had them disappear for bit in the other bag so that not completely unexpected.

And, when we were inside the heated museum and I took my jacket off, I realized I had the clip set way to high on the shoulder strap and it was rubbing on my collar bone.

I moved that down but I’ve yet to actually use it.

That will be the next acid test.

I bought this after getting a small award from PTO that was burning a hole in my pocket. And as I looked around at options I got sucked in by the clip and how it seemed like a good idea.

I’ll find out next time I’m wandering around with my camera if it’s as much a winner as I thought watching the video.

More news later (as they say).

And Sarah gave me…
last update: 12/17 @ 23:08

Not this huge wheel of cheese. Yes, I’ve been known to bring back a wheel of Gouda from Bonaire, but this is clearly too much cheese for one household.

Sarah gave me a cheese tasting at Cheesetique which was great fun.

And Jill, the owner and cheesemaster, noted they would be “cutting the cheese” today. It was a 55 pound wheel of Gruyere lovingly hand crafted.

So, of course, we went by to watch, taste and buy some. And I also picked up a bit more of a couple cheeses from the tasting.

More great tastes for my birthday!!!

That’s Jill taking the picture of the cutting. I imagine it will show up on the web site or in advertising for the next cheese cutting session.

The trick is to first score the rind then use the wire garrote to slice it half. Then you can use the open face to further slice it with the wire.

Alexandria Raceway’s Road Course
last update: 10/01 @ 14:41

Robert ordered the 2022 Brad Keselowski car months ago, but it was just delivered this week. He asked for a photo or two so I tried my hand at an afternoon road course race with Robert’s track.

I probably could have gone a bit more golden on the light, but I was hoping it would be a little subtle.

Many (too many) more photos in the vacations section (where else?).

Birthday!!!
last update: 07/10 @ 22:32

Not a family birthday.

Alexandria chooses not to compete with the DC fireworks. We celebrate the city’s birthday the following weekend.

This is the 273^rd birthday for the city of Alexandria (246 for the country).

Alexandria really puts on a good show.

And it’s much more approachable than The Mall for DC’s fireworks.

Pocket, from the vaccine PODs is back in town. We got host the POD crew last night to celebrate her return (temporary return) from studying abroad.

And we happened to run into her and Nathan at the fireworks.

Maybe not small world, but small town, anyway.

A perfect topper off to a lovely weekend.

Presidents’ Day
last update: 02/21 @ 16:21

It seems like it’s been a really long time since we’ve had a parade.

This was a very nice one.

The weather was perfect; the frigid temperatures of the last couple days have passed.

And the sky was a crystal clear blue.

A perfect day for George Washington to pass by to cheers.

And a really perfect day for hearing some bagpipes.

And Alexandria’s Pipes and Drums band did not disappoint.

There were, of course, politicians and police and military troops on parade.

But I do really enjoy the sound of a marching pipe band.

Parade part 2
last update: 02/21 @ 16:21

There were revolutionary soldiers.

These guys even had a canon.

But I noticed it was staged a few blocks from the finish (so they didn’t need to roll it the whole way).

They did fire it off for the reviewing stand and it was as impressive as you would expect a canon to be.

I’m sorry I didn’t get a shot of the smoke clearing over the street — that, too, was impressive.

And the Shriners were there. They had both these cars and equally small minibikes.

It’s always impressive to watch their close order drill.

I was only a little worried for my toes and nose taking this photo.

I’m glad the full-sized exotic and antique cars did not try these sorts of tricks.

And I think it’s clear by this this set up that Alexandria was ready for a good, old fashioned parade:

A parade.

Perfect weather.

Pipes and Drums.

Maybe we really are turning the Covid corner.

Goodnight Moon
last update: 02/06 @ 18:14

“Auntie Lisa,” our neighbor from E. Nelson Ave. and from whom we got Max and Zip all those years ago is an artist at the Torpedo Factory.

She, with help from other Torpedo Factory artists, turned one of the rooms into the room from Goodnight Moon.

It was really cool to see it come to life.

Also cool, they used the bookshelf in the room to highlight many of books recently banned by school boards in conservative districts.

Unfortunately, the artists cooperative may be at risk. The City of Alexandria is trying to generate more tax revenue from that now prime real estate.

We’re supporting the Save the Torpedo Factory movement, but I fear it’s an uphill battle.

Snow (delayed post)
last update: 01/11 @ 22:47

We had a great heavy, big (for us) snowstorm last week.

Unfortunately, it came on the heals of the holiday break.

So while I walked in to the (closed) office, Robert got to get out the sleds and enjoy the snow.

He also took on the lion’s share of clearing the sidewalk and car.

I wish I’d been able to join in the sledding, but “Closed” has a new meaning in the Telework age. In the federal space, weather events can close access to the buildings, but you’re still expected to telework if you can.

While I could, I’m more productive in the office and had that option (even though we were closed). So, after two weeks off, I went in and missed on the sledding. (I did get to join him and Ian on a hill in Seattle while we were there.)

Sarah, who took that photo, split her time between telework and some snow enjoyment.

Between that snow, and a refreeze and second, smaller snow, Robert’s holiday break grew by a week — but he did have some on-line classes to pay attention to.

He’s happy to be back in school, in person now. And I expect, Will, who joined him on the slopes, agrees.

Happy New Year
last update: 01/01 @ 00:49

It was a bit subdued this year: the normal King St. / Old Town First Night festivities were cancelled due to Covid. But the fireworks went on.

And were great, as usual. Thank you Alexandria.

From the Masonic Memorial we could see about 9 other fireworks displays in the distance in additon to Alexandria’s.

It’s a nice way to ring in the year (along with the 12 grapes under the table, champagne, sweeping the porches and running around the house three times).

Zoom zoom
last update: 10/02 @ 21:45

We’ve walked up the steps at the Masonic Memorial several times to see a launch from Wallops. But this is the first time they have actually launched.

We’ve had technical issues and boats in the area. Well, NASA has had those problems, we’ve just been robbed of the view by those problems.

Tonight was perfect: Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft launched on time from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS, for short) for the ISS carrying supplies.

They named the Cygnus the S.S. Kalpana Chawla in honor of one of the astronauts lost on the Columbia in 2003.

Click on the photo above: Mars to the left of moon, the S.S. Kalpana Chawla lower and right of center. The photo at left is the rocket but zoomed in on the phone — not the best quality.

(I brought my better camera last time, but the missions have been scrubbed so many times I skipped it tonight.)

Continuing Crazy Times
last update: 09/25 @ 10:56

We’re a couple weeks into the new school year. Robert has opted for a green screen background so he can take classes from a variety of locations: star destroyers, McLaren F1 cars and Minecraft villages.

School is clearly less fun at home. But they are buckling down, getting new material covered and the kids are learning.

Truly crazy times!

Of course this graph remains interesting and important. Clearly much better than the spike early on, but it seems very stubborn about dropping much below about 20 news cases a day. I’m sorry that June / July dip didn’t continue down.

Some of the current thinking is that if the positive test rate gets below 5%, it may be time to think about school in person again. We’re not there yet in Alexandria. The city provides that data monthly by zip code: 5.6% to 20.3% in August. (We’re fortunate to be in the 5.6% zip code.)

And democracy can’t stop. This is a presidential election year — fortunately, Virginia has lost its swing state status so we’ve been spared much of the advertising.

With questions about how well the Post Office can deliver ballots (and a personal concern over my illegible signature) along with no question in who I’m voting for, I followed Sarah’s lead and voted early, in person and in mask today.

Alexandria has the best “I Voted” stickers!

More crazy times…
last update: 07/02 @ 17:19

Alexandria, along with the Commonwealth of Virginia, has moved into phase 3 of the post Covid-19 world. Things are opening a bit more but folks are still generally on edge.

The Federal government, OPM, is still strongly urging telework for all who can. PTO has started to ease the mandate for telework and is allowing some folks, with good reason, back into the building.

I made the case that I have a good reason and was allowed in this week (my request for next week was approved too late so I expect to be teleworking next week).

They have said the building could have up to 25% of normal staff provided no shared work spaces. We’re fortunate to generally have more offices than cubicles.

But it’s pretty eerie to be in that big a building with so few other folks.

I saw one worker bee on my floor, and I only saw him on Monday.

I’ve seen the guards both at the entrances and walking their rounds.

And I appreciate seeing the custodial staff on their rounds as well.

Clearly nothing like 25% occupancy this past week — of course with the holiday weekend, it would be more lightly staffed anyway.

There are signs up all over the place: the entrance doors note masks are required, the elevator lobbies have footprints 6 feet apart and reminders not to touch the buttons, the stairwell doors remind you to keep 6 feet apart and note that the handrails get disinfected daily. And the pantries have a full set of what to look out for, how to wear a mask and how to wash your hands.

It is going to seem really odd when the atrium is full and loud again.

Crazy Times
last update: 05/28 @ 11:18

In these crazy, stay at home times, we’re very fortunate. We’ve each set up a work space of our own.

Sarah has the most experience having been teleworking at HUB for years before this latest, full-time, all-the-time telework order.

She has her spot in the living room (currently also the train room as Robert has rediscovered the joys of complex train layouts). He never saw the N-gauge track I had in Richmond or the plans his paternal grandfather had for the basement of their garage in Seven Devils.

And you can see one of the birthday balloons — they are hanging in well — and Robert’s head way back in addition completed just about two years ago. (Excellent timing for the extra and lovely space).

Robert has more physical paperwork than Sarah and I and some has taken up some space next to his desk. (The drawers are full of other important things.)

And his allegiance to home town teams is clear.

Often he’ll work on school work to a soundtrack from his phone. This photo is from one of the times with only one set of headphones on. You’ll have to ask him to explain why he often needs two.

And I have the office that came with the house, in the basement. I don’t always have these two companions, but Sarah got this great picture when they were both camped out with me.

I’ve adapted to the full-time TW by following as much of my old routine as possible. I’m on the clock when dressed for work (but my work shoes are still in the office), and off the clock when I change back to my more casual clothes.

In addition to the good timing on the addition, I finally decided to drop the theoretical benefits of DSL for the bigger pipe possible with cable Internet access. Our commercial cable connection is serving us well and easily supports the three video calls often going on simultaneously.

As I said, we are very fortunate.

Topic of the year…
last update: 05/03 @ 11:47

Like everyone else, I’ve become obsessed with the Covid-19 stats. And Alexandria has been announcing new cases (and much less frequently, deaths) for several weeks now.

Every time I think the chart is starting to trend the right way, there’s another spike.

All the usual caveats apply: testing is still much too spotty to really know what’s happening. And new positive tests (and confirmed related deaths) may not really be the best measure of how close we are to passing through this crisis.

Group Muse Time
last update: 02/22 @ 14:24

Now that it’s mid-winter (but a very mild one so far) and we’re starting to see the days get longer, it seemed like time for more music.

Sarah arranged another Group Muse last night. And, again, it was great.

Most interesting, unexpected and I thought fun was Kenji Bunch’s Three Gs.

And we had plenty of company. Which was a good thing…

… because: our heating system decided to stop circulating water yesterday.

And, did I mention it’s the middle of winter.

So we were fortunate to have some residual heat and then to get all those nice warm bodies, interested in hearing good music to help warm up the house.

George Washington’s Birthday!!!
last update: 02/17 @ 19:22

And Alexandria did not disappoint.

We had George and Martha (several Georges, actually).

We had the Shriners little race cars.

And pipes! Alexandria can’t have a parade without bagpipes.

There’s just something about good pipe and drum band that warms the heart.

I’ve not fully adjusted to the new parade route; I like it better going straight down King Street. But I expect those who want to get through town or to any of the shops much prefer the new, cross King route.

New Year, New Decade
last update: 01/01 @ 23:10

We were invited to a New Year’s Eve party with one of Robert’s friends a block and a half away. Will has a younger sister, so the party was geared to her group and had a balloon drop at 9pm (New Year’s in Greenland).

That gave us time to come back and relax before meeting the boys to go up to the Masonic memorial.

New this year, fake foxes (you can see some in the background). A bit off-putting at first, until you see what they are. And they seemed to work as there was less evidence of geese on the path or lawn.

The location is great for us. With the recent move of the Old Dominion Yacht Club, the fireworks were right down King street.

Alexandria does a very nice fireworks show. And having a great view 2 blocks from home makes it even more special.

The year, the weather was cool but dry and no fog. The fog last year made it seem very eerie: just flashes of color in the fog.

This time, the view was spectacular! We could see “our” fireworks and several Maryland cities across the river.

After the show, we did the normal:

Ran around the house three times with (empty) luggage.

Swept our troubles off the front and back porches.

Ate twelve grapes under the table.

And toasted the New Year!

Here’s to a happy, healthy, safe year and decade to come.

Real Snow!!!
last update: 01/13 @ 12:54

A bit over six inches on the ground and they are calling for maybe another four to six by Monday morning.

We took our new, across the street neighbors over to the Masonic Temple for the sledding hill.

A great time was had by all (well, all but those who hit a tree on the way down — we’re told they are OK).

Robert even helped to build up the jump that always appears when the sledding starts…

A spot of color
last update: 01/13 @ 12:50

We have a couple cardinals in the neighborhood. This guy really stands out on a snowy day.

Happy New Year!!!
last update: 01/01 @ 00:55

Unfortunately, the fog was still with us.

It was pretty, but not very fireworky. We did see some of the finale lighting the sky a little bit.

But mostly, it looked like this, but with cool sound effects.

As you can see: it’s pretty neat and colorful. But…

…I feel like the coming year is just about this clear.

Let the unwrapping begin…
last update: 12/25 @ 15:59

… After a good night’s sleep, we woke up to find Santa’s cookies half eaten and some of the milk gone — we’re pretty sure it was Santa, the kitties tongues are not that long.

More photos in the vacations section.

Merry Christmas!!!
last update: 12/24 @ 23:03

We’re ready:

• Tree decorated
• Presents present
• Lego city around the tree
• Cookies and milk out

Christmas cats…
last update: 12/22 @ 11:05

Pinker and Panzer are very happy to have their annual tree nest back. New this year, we put the tree in the addition rather than the dining room as we’ve done in years past.

It seems to fit well and I expect to add a couple more photos before the big day.

Wonderful Evening!!!
last update: 10/21 @ 23:11

Sarah did another great thing: she signed us up to host a Groupmuse concert. You offer to open your house, ask friends to come by (or they will fill out with neighbors) and yoiu get a private concert.

It was fantastic!!! Joel Michael-Schwartz on mandolin and Todd Shelar on guitar were a lot of fun to listen to, meet and get to know. We recommend others sign up (or come by the next time we host). It’s a great evening.

(Also, a very nice way to enjoy the work recently done on the house.)

Happy New Year!!!
last update: 01/01 @ 12:10

It was pretty cold this year for New Years with the temperature around 15 or so. We mostly stayed at home in front of the fire.

And with Robert’s help, we celebrated New Years in Kathmandu, Istanbul, St. Mary’s Canada, San Juan Puerto Rico and then Alexandria.

In Alexandria, the city did a very nice job with the fireworks. We left our fireside about 11:50 and walked up the steps at the Masonic Temple to check them out at the foot of King Street.

That got us back home to run around the house (thank you Norman’s for not minding us cutting across your yard), sweep our troubles off the porch and eat our grapes under the table.

If asked, Robert will report that there are way more jokes about grapes than raisins.

Hoppin John and getting ready to go back to work and school are on the agdenda for today — indoor activities as the temperature is not expected to get above 25 today.

Here’s to hoping 2018 is a more sane year and we can turn the corner on the political craziness.

The Chef and her Goose
last update: 12/25 @ 14:10

Sarah doing an excellent job cooking the goose.

Yesterday, she was on tap to cook two . I wondered aloud if it was possible to do a goose on the grill — two in our oven is really a tight fit (we’ve not remodeled the kitchen yet).

She put on her researcher hat and lo and behold: it is, and it is really good, and maybe even easier than in the oven.

There could be more goose in our future.

Opening in Earnest
last update: 12/25 @ 11:45

Robert let us sleep in a bit after a fantastic Christmas eve meal and party at the Hargadon’s. And then we got on to the serious business of unwrapping all the great gifts that were in the stockings (and next to the stockings) and under the tree.

Robert got the next size up PJs from this Atlanta kin; the whole Williams clan has matching PJs.

Sarah got some books off her list. And also from her wish list: a new Scan Pan (currently in use on goose gravy for dinner).

I got tickets to see Sweet Honey in the Rock when they come to The Birchmere.

But really, it was very Legoy Christmas…

We each got a stocking stuffer set to build. Robert got his parents cool sets (I have a drilling truck now).

And we got Robert the Saturn V rocket, crazy big set.

He’s already halfway through building the rocket.

Looking a lot like…
last update: 12/03 @ 20:18

We picked up our tree today.

We are a little earlier this year as our local (walkable) tree guys sold out last year when we waited longer.

Then I ran to the river for a quick paddle — it was 55 and bright and sunny.

Robert and I moved the tree in while Sarah was off singing the Messiah.

Then we all reconvened for lighting and decorating.

(And dinner.)

Robert had the great idea to make a tree for his cubby at school.

And a couple more for favored teachers.

His has lights, their Chrismas trees have ornaments but we didn’t have any more of the micro lights.

Maybe we can see them in place at the big winter show in a couple weeks.

All very cool in my book.

Good Fun
last update: 10/31 @ 21:25

An excellent Halloween was had by all.

We were a little late in picking up our pumpkins, but that meant no time for the squirrels to get to them.

And Robert’s cool, jack-o-lantern eating a pumpkin held up really well.

Sarah and Robert even picked up special lights for George the giraffe.

Extra fun this year: Robert’s classmate Travis and his brother Austin came by.

The boys were pretty tireless in their quest for even more candy.

Actually, in about 30 - 45 minutes, they were ready to head home with pounds of sugar in their bags.

And then Robert did his sorting — too much variety this year for a good histogram.

There are way worse problems to have.

USCGC Eagle
last update: 09/04 @ 17:02

Being a holiday, they opened the bridge at 8:00 in the morning rather than in the middle of the night.

It was a lot of fun to watch the bridge open, the fire boat doing it’s welcome thing and the Eagle came through.

In what was clearly a smart move, they arrived under motor rather than sail power.

There was plenty of room for the ship to get through the bridge.

But it has to harrowing to try something like that under sail — there is little margin for error.

Making this visit extra fun: Steve and Helen are visiting. So they walked down with me to watch the excitement.

We were not the only ones :)

El Galeón
last update: 05/27 @ 15:12

This is at least the second year that El Galeón has visited Alexandria.

We tried to go last time but the lines were too long. Today, with the treat of a thunderstorm, we almost walked right on.

It was pretty cool. Very impressive to think about blue water sailing in such a ship. More so to think about that without the modern advances which they have stashed out of view of the visitors.

A crew of 40 seems pretty large for what is not too big a ship. But one of the notes pointed out that it takes 18 to raise the 2,000 pound mainsail.

Perhaps most intriguing: that misbehaving cabin boys were forced into the crows nests during storms as punishment.

Also the causal note that nowadays they have safety lines when folks are working the rigging; originally, there was a rope towed behind the ship. If you fell off, you needed to get to the rope to be saved.

The rain held off (is still holding off). So we could take our time exploring. And even managed to pick up a couple items from the Farmers Market (note the leeks peeking out of Sarah’s bag).

(No one made any jokes about leaks while we were on board.)

Leaving Home…
last update: 05/27 @ 09:30

… perhaps a bit early.

I think inspired by setting the tents up to air out and dry off after their rainy trip to West Virginia, Robert decided to stay in his tent last night.

He slept well and slept in.

And took it down after he got up. Perfect!

Back in the pool
last update: 01/08 @ 09:56

After the great time in Cayman, Robert is back in the local pool to finish up his confined water work. Then we’ll get to think about another fun place for his open water certification dives… (PADI is very specific about the order of doing things.)

Harddrives and Hammers
last update: 12/28 @ 14:48

Time to clear some space on the shelves in the basement.

These two harddrives have been around for awhile. At 120GB each, they’re not really big enough to be useful these days. And I had a note about them being bad. I had some drives go south several years ago, these may be the very ones.

Note the eye protection Robert is sporting as he helps to make it really hard to recover any data from these.

After we were through, both cases were broken in addtion to being severely dented.

And the electronics were well shattered.

We didn’t remove the platters, but I’m pretty sure they were dented in our efforts. And I’m sure there is nothing on these drives worth the effort of trying to recover it.

Warm!!!
last update: 08/13 @ 15:00

Tons of Trucks
last update: 07/16 @ 15:10

If you know what I mean.

Sorry, that was a cheap shot.

Robert had fun with the SWAT truck; the street cleaner — they practice driving from the “wrong” side and have trouble when they switch back to the normal side for driving. Look at the street cleaner you see next time and see if it has steering wheels on both sides as well.

The fire truck was fun, but we were too late to get a ride in the cherry picker.

All the folks we talked with were nice and enthusiastic, for which I give them mad props as it was hot and everyone wanted to toot the horn or turn on the siren when they had a chance.

The nice guy from the pot hole repair crew was clearly into his job and being there and was happy to explain how hot the asphalt has to be and when they use which tamper to pack and flatten a patch.

And the sewer inspector knows our street and is convinced the sewer line was put down before the road was planned out because it’s got this crazy angle…

Interesting and fun time for all.

More sledding
last update: 01/26 @ 20:58

This time, we were a bit further up King St. because the moguls were just too painful to sled on where we were Sunday.

There are still come moguls and this jump, but it was much less bumpy.

After some air time, Robert talked Sarah into sharing a sled.

Sometimes on the smoother side of the run, sometimes, right over this bottom jump.

The sun was out and it was plenty warm today. While there was a lot of melting (and the sledding was a bit slower), we still have a lot of snow around here.

Sledding
last update: 01/24 @ 17:27

Sarah and Robert went over to the Masonic Memorial this morning to check the slopes.

Then we all went over this afternoon.

As usual, it was great fun.

We even ran into neighbors so we could trade off sleds and have a Sunset Drive race.

Check out the dragon spikes Robert has been sporting all day…

In my opinion, the tube won for most fun (largely because it is totally out of control.

The longer orange slide may be the fastest.

And our old standby green sled wins for best control — which is still not much.

That’s Sarah putting on the breaks to avoid the tree I was hiding behind.

School has been called for tomorrow, we’re waiting to see what Sarah and I are supposed to do. We walked home on a side street that has not seen a plow this year — those folks are not getting out anytime soon.

That’s my snow swimming style…

King Street
last update: 01/23 @ 14:26

Normally, that does not mean walk right down the middle of the street.

But today, that was clearly the thing to do.

Unless you had skis.

There were a few cars out — one that Robert and I helped push to get going. And a few more pedestrians.

And even a couple places open for business — but not many.

Then, on our way back up the street, they were adding to the mound again.

As Sarah said, they’re likely some cold fishes — we’re guessing they are dumping the snow into the river.

With plowing and shoveling, this snowman was almost prefab. We stacked him up and Robert gave him a smiley face.

It feels really good to be back inside. Walking into the wind was tough, even with goggles.

The fruit of the labors
last update: 01/23 @ 11:48

Gotta compare this to: 2010.

…and continues
last update: 01/23 @ 10:51

Sarah and Robert measured 15 inches so far. It’s still coming down and blowing around.

We did get one car dug out, but have no plans to take it anywhere — thank you Alexandria for plowing our street in case we did net to get out.

I anticipate some sledding a bit later today…

And maybe some more sidewalk clearing as well

And so it begins…
last update: 01/22 @ 15:38

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