Cherry Blossoms...

Spoken Words

Last night I ventured into DC for a series of poetry readings at The Big Hunt's basement lounge, and was able to catch up with a few friends from yesteryear.  Steve read from his newly published The Luckless Age.

The evening began with Belarus native Valzhyna Mort reading some of her work.  Her delivery was mesmerizing and her poetry was absorbing.  I was nestled between three of her students as I listened in.  

I became an instant admirer as she stole the show.

The rest of the evening was full of conversations, merriment, whispers, glances, synecdoche, metaphor and some smiles.  The creative energy in that space and the general atmosphere of the city were a welcome change.  On the cab ride home, I lamented leaving the words behinds.

ice-capades

The fuses and transformers along the grid are back to working order, but a few days ago when icy snow lingered on power lines we saw sparks fly and the power went out.  

Maybe one day they will consider burying the power lines.

infrared concordances...

Recently, I attended an Army retirement ceremony at Fort Myers.  The 3rd US Infantry Regiment, better known as the Old Guard is the elite drill and ceremony unit at Arlington Cemetery.  (Parades and other rituals of symmetry still hold my attention.)  I stare at the coordinated movement and the changing formations, and the world seems to dissolve away...much like each soldier's individuality at that same moment.

As my dissolutions were punctuated with harmonies, I learned that the elite infantry regiment also includes a musical component, the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.  They too marched, but instead of rifles with bayonets...they played their 10-hole fifes, their handmade rope-tensioned drums and their single-valve bugles.  The wigged musicians treated our ears to 18th Century tunes, and for a short while...

I wondered if all conflict could be settled with melodies and marching.

moments before sundown...

Strangers approach one another along the Key Bridge.

A couple enjoys the last few minutes of sunlight,

while a plastic water bottle bobs along.

along the Potomac

This weekend, we went kayaking again along the western edge of the city limits.  Paddling along the banks we saw much of the debris washed downstream by the recent rainstorms.   Overall, we were delighted by the sights.

A thick water snake wrestles the last bit of warmth from a large boulder while a dragonfly perches atop its scales.

We kept paddling.  Then we heard the familiar thunder of a larger dragonfly...snaking its way along the river.

Ominous Skyline

During a recent morning commute into the city, I spotted the military bird hovering beneath the clouds, floating over the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial...like a mosquito, daring passersby to shoo it away.

Capitol Views

visco|city

A hot and humid day in DC feels like a warm shower of soap bubbles.  Summer is here, and I can't wait for October.

futebol in DC

RFK Stadium has seen better years, but manages to keep clean lines.

The beer is overpriced, right on queue.

And yesterday, a few superstars ran around the pitch.

funny times

Saturday afternoon I was invited to hang out at the Java Shack with a few cartoonists and the publisher of the Funny Times. I didn't even know that this periodical existed before my café au lait infused camaraderie.  Ray is the guy that makes it all happen.  He publishes this compilation of political cartoons.

One of the prominent artists featured regularly in Ray's periodical is Matt Wuerker, a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  Matt is kind of a big deal in the world of political cartoons.  He is currently top dog at Politco, has worked at pretty much every A-list publication and is incredibly down to earth.  I managed to take a shot of him that captured a moment during a conversation about more serious political topics.  Matt even has a bit of a Hemingway aura in this photograph.

The Washington DC area is full of people that are full of themselves.  Many are intelligent and some sport their intellectual flat line with reckless bravado.  But for a couple of hours, I relished the time just talking to Matt, Ray and a few others.  They were down-to-earth funny and wicked smart.  This is the DC I really like. So if you can, check it out for yourself:  Funny Times.

Matt is the recipient of the Funny Times' first ever Irving Award.  Here is Matt showing off his award.

Cherry Blossoms

They gathered around the Tidal Basin to see the trees.  I enjoyed watching the tourists mingle with the locals.  Some sat on benches, and some sat upon branches.

Some sat on the ground, lost in thought.  

(If you want to see a few more photographs...click here.)

whirlybird...

Walking along under clear skies, I heard the blades thumping, louder and louder...approaching. When I glanced up, I smiled. It was about to pass directly over me.  I waited peaking through the viewfinder. Click. Lucky shot.

ChloRides

 Melting snow led a salty migration and freed the corrosives from the asphalt.

The setting sun made it all come to light during the afternoon commute.

blizzard way station...

This morning we took the dog for a walk, and made it to the pedestrian bridge over I-66.  Gabriela was exhausted. After slowly carving a path through two to three foot snow drifts, the bridge was a welcoming foot of shallow snow.

Simba couldn't get enough of the snow.  He ran back and forth and watched the few crazies driving along the highway.  Then I suggested, that we keep going and Gabriela creatively expressed her disapproval in full tween drama.

I laughed.  She laughed (well...more of a hyena cackle-grunt), and we turned around and headed back home.

flaky behaviors...

Along with the almost thirty inches of snow, the recent blizzard left a trail of erratic and offbeat communal outbursts.  Neighbors gathered to help each other shovel their way out of yet-to-be-plowed dead ends and cul-de-sacs.  After making quick work of a keg earlier today, ten men with shovels quickly choreographed an escape route from their street.  I looked up from my driveway to catch a glimpse and it looked like a silly TV commercial, but it made me smile. The storm and its aftermath brought out the best in many.  In some rather isolated cases, the goodwill that gathered momentum had to contend with petty jealousies and the impish tantrums of other neighbors. These extreme forms of behavior summoned an ethereal dissonance that was laughable (...poetry in pantomime.)

. . .

Some of the most peaceful and enjoyable moments of the past few days were those spent in silence, walking with the dog (off-lead) and watching him play in the snow.

 

  

  

His antics restored a sense of balance to a neighborhood full of silliness. Tomorrow, we will return to the park and wade in waist-deep snow drifts.  The snow won't melt for a while, but perhaps some frustrations will as I watch him dive for smells and bury his head in the snow.

 

snow daze...

Last weekend, it snowed inches of light dry powder.  Today, we woke up to more snow, some four inches of heavy wet flakes.  The early morning radio newscast mentioned the coming weekend's impending snowstorm.

I'm sick of snow, but the dog had to go out.  So I rolled out of bed, and left the house with camera in one hand and the leashed puppy in the other.

 

The neighborhood was quiet, and the sun peered from behind a veil of fog. The contrasts and patterns were everywhere.  The snow almost seduced me with its devilish charm as I eyed more patterns ahead.

Heading back home, the landscape then lost much of its appeal as I thought about the day ahead, and the confinement of the office.

As we passed by the park on the return leg, I made the usual deposit, a blue bag of dog poop at a trash can in the park.

The distinct and familiar pulse invited a glance, and I spotted the military helicopter circling above, a fitting punctuation to the dissolution of the morning's atmospheric glare.

 

Life in the DC Metro area...an immersion in serial contrasts

sky light...

On my way home a few days ago, I had had enough of the street view, the red tail lights and the bumpers. So I looked up and was distracted by the sky.

...on heading back

At the end of the day, I reflected a bit on the nature of the multiple exposures throughout the day.

Some are needy and always want reassurance, but it can be awkward.

Others seemed sad, even through their flashy exteriors.

And then their were those who just held it together with a bit of flair (or gel).

And that was something to look up to....

co(m)mutations...

A few days ago, I enjoyed driving into the city on a cool foggy morning.  The monuments lost a bit of their luster in the watery haze, and the landscape took center stage.

Here a tree partially obstructs a view of the Holocaust Museum (left) and the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (right).