The weather in Washington this year has been superb, cooler than usual w/o too much humidity. I took advantage of a warm pleasant afternoon to go over to the National Arboretum. It is not very far from where I work, but I had never been there. It is actually astonishing when I think about it. I go many miles to see trees in other states and even countries, but never bothered to make the short trip. I will have to wander back and spend more time.
It is located in the middle of one of DC’s less nice neighborhoods. That is one explanation. But it has been improving. Washington has gotten better in general. In 1988, when I was here for language training, the place was going to hell. Things have gotten a lot better since Washington elected reasonably competent and non-crooked mayors. It was depressing back in the 1980s when Marion Barry kept getting reelected, but that is another story.
The Arboretum is very pleasant. It reminds me of Whitnall Park in Milwaukee. I had the place almost to myself. I thought the trees would be thicker, but there is a lot of open space. They also had some plant exhibits about how farm plants could produce energy. You can see the pictures.
The top picture is a big catalpa. We used to call them Indian cigar trees, because of the long pods that hang down. Catalpas are native only to the area around Indiana, Missouri and Illinois, but they have been planted all over the U.S. My Aunt Loraine had one in her front yard on Whitnall (again with the Whitnall) Ave. It was still there last time I passed. The next picture is switch grass. The last picture shows cottonwoods. They are tough trees. Their leaves quake in the wind producing a nice gentle sound. They grow very fast, but don’t live very long (for a tree).
The weather has been great this year. This evening it is actually chilly. It will get down to 60 degrees tonight. I don’t remember it ever being so cool in Washington in July. I read that last month was the coolest June since 1958 and one of the coolest since they started to keep records. It has also been usually rainy, so everything is very green and robust.
Below are a few pictures from around SW Washington.
This is our shredder truck. We are moving to our new building nearer the Main State. Some stuff needs to be shredded. This truck brings us the industrial strength shredding power.
A very big Japanese Zelkova. The green picture is from today. The leafless one is from January looking in the other direction.
Construction near Waterfront metro stop. The first is today, the other is from January.
Construction on the Arena Stage. I really cannot picture how this is going to look when it is done.
I am beguiled by springtime in Washington. Today it was warm, with a little drizzle. I did my morning telephone call in the garden in front of the Smithsonian. I never really thought about it before, but this is a roof garden. There is a significant museum complex below the ground.
Since it is on ground level, it doesn’t look like rooftop garden, but it has the characteristics. The heated rooms below make the dirt in the gardens above significantly warmer, so plants from further south can thrive and they can come out earlier in the season.
I can include pictures, but they can’t convey the smell of the air heavy with the fragrance of flowers and earth and I can only mention the sounds of the birds. A few minutes in the garden put the whole day in the proper perspective.
It has been a cooler than average spring, but we are getting there. Today I met Chrissy for lunch up near the U.S. Naval Memorial. It is around a ten minute walk from my office and it was very nice today. I don’t have much text, just some pictures from a warm spring day.
Above are kids flying kites on the Mall
Magnolia grove near National Gallery of Art
Springtime in Washington in John Marshall Park
John Marshall, longest serving Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His rulings shaped the Constitution. Among the key opinions: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803); Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810); McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819); Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S. 518 (1819); Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. 264 (1821); Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824); Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832); Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243 (1833)
Monument to the Grand Army of the Republic
US Navy Memorial. Look closely. The patio is a map of the world. Those guys are walking across Texas and Mexico.
Horse Tamer near world commerce center
Fountain at Navy Memorial. In background is the Archives Building
I rode my bike into work for the first time in the season. There was a very brisk wind from the NW, which was great, since I travel SW and the tailwind pushed me along. If only it could be that easy every day. I lost a couple of week because of early daylight savings time. I don’t like to ride when it is still dark. Only now is it getting light when I have to ride.
It is 17 miles from my house to work by the routes I take. I usually enjoy the ride. It is like a mini-journey with several distinct segments. First I leave to complex and cross the freeway. Then I climb a hill along narrow Shreve Road. It is a typical suburban street. About two miles from home, I catch the W&OD bike trail. It follows the old railroad right of way, so it is not very hilly. There is a big bridge across Leesburg Pike, but then you go down a segment punctuated each block by city streets. This is not so good, because you really cannot safely get up speed. After crossing Lee Highway, you come to the next segment.
This is the part you can fly. It is gently downhill, well-paved bike trail next to Route 66. It goes under the streets, so you don’t have to stop for a couple miles. It is a pretty ride with Four-Mile Run on the right side. Beavers dammed the creek a few years ago until local authorities persuaded them to leave. There are lots of flowering trees, especially crape myrtle and oak and poplar forests. The trail goes through some crowded neighborhoods, but you cannot tell.
Bike/running/walking trails on old railroads are good. They form long narrow parks that provide passages and a lot of accessible green space. It is a matter of geometry. A square park is compact with little surface area to intersect with neighborhoods. In some places, the W&OD park is only about 100 yards wide, but the green impacts lots of space and the acreage goes a lot farther.
You pass under Wilson Boulevard along the creek. It doesn’t take much rain to make the creek rise and flood because there is so much hard pavement and rooftops in the watershed. One time I was riding home during a thunderstorm and almost got swept away by the creek. I saw that the path was flooded, but I figured it was shallow enough to muscle through. I got a head of speed and hit water higher than my waste. I had to get off the bike and pull it out. After that, I was a little more circumspect around the creek. It is very unstable.
Right after Wilson Boulevard you come up a little hill and go down some city streets to Carlin Spring Road, then down some more little streets past Glebe Road into Arlington neighborhoods. They are very pleasant. I have to track north, a little out of the way to catch Clarendon Boulevard. I used to be able to go down Pershing and through Fort Meyer, but since 9/11 you can’t pass through the fort. Clarendon has a bike trial on the street. You feel a little safer, but not much, since you still share the road with cars and trucks, many of which consider bikes a nuisance that don’t belong on the roads. I cut across Hwy 50 at Rhodes Av and head toward the Iwo Jima memorial, then downhill along Arlington Cemetery and across Memorial Bridge into Washington.
Usually I then go past the Lincoln Memorial, along the reflecting pond to the Washington Memorial and then along the Smithsonian Mall to work. Today, however, I cut south along the Potomac to the Jefferson Memorial to see the cherry blossoms. They are a little behind this year. Its been cooler than usual, but a couple of warm days will get them back on track.
Anyway, it is a nice ride with good variety. I know I have provided too many details, but I feel very much attached to my bike trails. I have been riding variations of this trail on this bike (I have put thousands of miles on this bike) since 1997 and some of the closer in sections since 1985, when I lived in Clarendon. One of the things I like best about living in Washington is that an ordinary ride to work can be such an adventure.
U Street was a cultural center in the past and is so again. It was where Duke Ellington played. For a while it was the biggest and most prosperous black community area in the U.S. It fell on hard times in the 1960s, but recently has bounced back.
My friend Victor bought a townhouse in that neighborhood about fifteen years ago. He got a really good deal on the place, but the neighborhood wasn’t nice back then. We went to dinner at his house one time and somebody set a car on fire a couple of houses down from his. Victor assured us that this had never happened before and it evidently was an abandoned car. The fire was set more out of boredom than malice. Still, it is not something you see every day and it is an unpleasant smell. Things are much better now. A big plus is the Green Line Metro stop. Development follows the Metro in the suburbs and redevelopment comes to neighborhoods near city Metro stops.
At the Metro stop is the African American Civil War Monument. It looks a little out of place. Most civil war monuments are in the midst of fields and forests. This one is a little cramped in the city, surrounded by streets and pavement. There was not very much to see at the monument itself. I walked around a couple of times, but there was a sign for a museum a couple blocks away, so I walked up there.
The museum was worth the trip because of Hari, one of the curators. He had an obvious love for the history and a knowledge that went along with that. He told me that around 10% of the Union Army was made up of African Americans. They were often employed in reconnaissance and what today we would call counter insurgency. They protected the camps and the supply lines. It is a crucial and very dangerous task, but one that by its nature is largely done away from the main body in relative obscurity. You can read more re the museum at www.afroamcivilwar.org. It is worth going to see. It covers a neglected part of our American history. We should remember bravery and honor sacrifice.
Hari told me about a John Wells Jefferson, who was a colonel in the 8th Wisconsin Infantry, raised Wisconsin in 1861 and served primarily in the Mississippi Valley. Jefferson was a descendant of Sally Hemmings and probably Thomas Jefferson (DNA evidence has recently indicated that Sally Hemming’s children were at least related to Jefferson). John W. Jefferson was part African American, but passed as white, according to what Hari told me. The connection is with Chrissy’s ancestor, who was with a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War. I don’t know if he was in the 8th Wisconsin. He wrote a series of letters home. The originals are in Norwegian (the family had immigrated from Norway to Wisconsin only a couple years before). I saw translations but I don’t remember the details. I will have to find the letters and see what I can find out.
I also saw Ben’s Chili Bowl. It has been more popular since Barack Obama went in there for a bowl of Chili. I like chili, but there was a big crowd so I didn’t go in. I wasn’t that hungry. Anyway, I have to be careful with chili. I don’t get along with the commonly used chili spice – cumin. I cannot really taste it, but it gives me awful heartburn and is better avoided.
Above is the equestrian statue of Winfield Scott Hancock, one of the heroes of Gettysburg.
Not many people know the National Mall area better than I do. During the winter, I get off the Metro at Smithsonian and walk across the Mall every workday. When I commute by bike in the summer, I ride along the Mall. When I run during lunch breaks, I run on the Mall and if I when I have time I walk from SA 44 along across the Mall to Main State.
Today I got off at Federal Triangle. It was a longer walk to work, but it is a nice walk. I like the mornings because I have the place mostly to myself. I also like the afternoons when it is crowded with people. It is nice most of the time.
I have posted dozens of Mall pictures on this blog, so please look through the files if you want to see more. Below are the branches of an elm tree. Notice the buds are swelling. Spring is on the way.
There are always complaints that the Mall is getting a little scruffy. This is nothing new and it is part of the charm. Our National Mall is … OUR national Mall. On warm afternoons it fills with citizens enjoying their capital’s front yard. People play football or Frisbee on the grass. They walk between the Smithsonian buildings. There are various exhibitions set up along the Mall paths during the warm seasons. Thousands of us crowd the Mall on the 4th of July. Millions of Americans watched the President’s inauguration. People think of it as their own and it is. Of course, all this is hard on the grass and it makes the place a little scruffy.
Below – I am reading lots of complaints that the crowds at the Obama inauguration killed the grass on the Mall. It is damaged, but not dead. I have seen it worse. It will be back, as usual.
Scruffy is a point of pride for me and beauty. Each of the bare spots is an indication of use. The Smithsonian staff does a great job of keeping the grass reasonably healthy. They rotate the fields to give grass a chance to recover. And the fields are diverse; they have their share of clover and other “weeds”. The Mall is not home to that chemically produced living Astroturf we too often see in our verdant manicured suburban lawns.
Above – this is how the rotate and manage the grass. There is always a section closed off. The grass there gets a rest. Then they move the fence to protect a different place. The grass on the Mall gets trampled every year, more during years with big events or inaugurations. It grows back.
It was cold today, around 20 degrees and wind out of the north, so the walk up Capitol Hill was a little uncomfortable. It was not so bad on the way back and it looked nice in the bright sunlight with the blanket of snow. I have included some pictures.
It is supposed to be warmer by the end of the week. It is hard to believe, but spring will be here really soon.
Above is a beautiful zelkova. Notice the graceful curves. I have been passing this tree for around ten years. It is growing fast and its curves are getting thicker.
It remind me of why Americans are fatter today. It is not the only reason, but it is a reason.
Years ago, Pepsi couldn’t compete with Coke because Coke had a very attractive vase shaped bottle. The bottle is important because it is part of the total package. Most people really cannot tell the difference by taste alone. Pepsi tried lots of bottles; nothing worked. But Pepsi executives knew that the actual soda cost almost nothing. The big expenses were in marketing, bottling and distribution. They also knew that people would finish off a bottle, even if it had more in it. They call it unit gluttony. So they could afford to make bottles bigger, give away “free” soda and still sell as many bottles. Coke had to match the offer, but as you make the curvy bottles bigger, they become less attractive. This is a curse of all curvy things.
Pretty soon lots of things came in bigger packages and super sizes. People finished them off and demanded more. Today everything is bigger and lots of things are thicker around the middle, just like my tree.
I depend on the Metro to get around. That means I have to walk a lot and I think that is just fine. You get to know a place a lot better when you literally put your feet on the ground. Today, for example, I had a conference at FSI and had to walk from Ballston Metro. It takes just over a half hour and it is a nice walk through Arlington. I have included some pictures from my various walks.
This one is not from Arlington. This is the statue of Jame McPherson in Washington. McPherson commanded the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. He was killed at the battle of Atlanta in 1864.
Ballston Mall near the Metro.
A pedestrian passage under Rt 50 on the way to FSI. This is a relic of an earlier time and I am surprised it stays open. It is very convenient however. If it were built today, it would need lots of other features and the government would pay millions of dollars for construction.
Housing in Arlington, VA
New construction near Ballston–February 20.
New construction near Ballston–November of last year.
Car stack near Ballston
Nature Conservancy across from Ballston Metro in Arlington. The Nature Conservancy is the best of the environmental groups, IMO. They actually buy, restore and manage ecologically sensitive places. Instead of just protesting or demanding something be done, they do something.
Below is the Monument to the Second Army Division. It stands near the White House. It was originally set up in memory of WWI dead, but later added battles from WWII and Korea. I walked past this many times, but this is the first time I stopped to look closely.
I started at my normal office and then took the shuttle to HST and transferred to go to NFATC, where I talked to the group going to Iraq. I wonder how much my advice is worth. Things change so quickly in Iraq and our footprint is so different now. But I told them what I knew. I caught the shuttle back to HST in time just to miss the shuttle to SA44. Just as well. I wanted to go to the Wilson Center to see a speaker on worldwide water resources, so I walked over to the Ronald Reagan Building, where Wilson Center is located. It seems to me that water resources and environment will be big issues in the next few years. One of the things I like most about Washington is that there are so many opportunities to learn new things. I will write some notes about what I learned when I get a little more information and context.
Below is an exhibit re Woodrow Wilson at the Wilson Center. Wilson was our only president with a PhD. He valued study and the development of ideas. The Wilson Center for scholars is his living legacy. Scholars there share their ideas with each other and the public (like me). They also publish “The Wilson Quarterly”.
The Wilson Center is almost midway between State and SA 44, so after the lecture I walked back to my office. It was cold and I had to stay late to finish the day’s work, but I liked the lecture, the walk gave me time to think and I got some pictures.
Above is the inside atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building. Below workmen are putting up a profile of President Reagan.
Below is a statue of Simon Bolivar near the Mall and near the OAS.
Below is Nathan Hale. He scouted British positions for General Washington and was executed by the British after they captured him. They didn’t have the ACLU in those days. His last words were “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
Below is salt on the street. It seem like when it snows in Washington, it rains salt. You can see how much this salt was not needed. They are too quick with the salt around here and the effort is not a virtue. All that salt eventually finds its way into the Potomac and then pollutes the Chesapeake Bay. The lecture I listened to on water made me notice this. The costs of doing these things is high, but environmental costs are hard to quantify, while people sliding on the streets are easy to see. Too bad. Many people claim to be concerned about the environment, but then they complain or sue when they are inconvenienced or slip on the pavement. The Chesapeake is worth a few bent fenders, maybe even some broken bones or at least the risk of these mishaps.
