Went to the Brazilian Embassy for the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright program in Brazil. I was glad to be invited, even though I have been away for a few years. I am a true believer in education exchanges and Fulbright is the gold standard.
On the down side, it was rainy. I took the subway to Dupont Circle Metro and then had to walk a bit more than a mile up Massachusetts. If not for the rain it would have been very pleasant and even with the rain it was interesting, as you can see from the pictures. The first group are statues along the way. Last is the tunnel down to the Metro – a little scary.
They said it was going to rain. My custom is to ride my bike if it is not actually raining when I set off, no matter the weather prediction. It turned out to be a beautiful day.
I was going to Washington to listen to a “First Monday” lecture about public diplomacy outreach to North Korea, sponsored by the Public Diplomacy Council. I am not really interested in North Korea. I took some notes on the presentations, but I like to attend these meetings more to see old colleagues and ride my bike.
Anyway, it was a great day, one with the kind of soft air, that kind of balmy but pleasant weather you experience only in spring and fall, warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough that the warm sun feels good on your back.
My first two pictures are slightly different aspects of the Capitol. Next is Grant’s monument. I felt a little trepidation posting this photo, lest some protestors see the beard and the Civil War uniform and seek to pull the statue down. Last is a big Japanese zelkova. I used to run around the Mall and this was part of my running trail, so it feels familiar. Grant and the Capitol have not changed much, although they cleaned up the Grant monument recently. The zelkova has grown a lot in the last ten or fifteen years. It is bigger, but I liked it better before. At one point in its life, it had a wonderful grace, a kind of hourglass trunk. It is still nice, but now it is just generally thicker.
