Teddy Bears for Grown Ups

Car bear

Bears I  nearly bought recently

Cute bears

I don't know why we like teddy bears so much but there's a lot of them lying about my house and, actually, in both of our cars. Sometimes someone we are giving a ride to will inquire about the car bears, as in "Do these belong to your children?" or, upon seeing two or three on the back seat, asking "Do you know your kids left their toys here?"  Most of the time the car bears are just something warm and fuzzy to look at but they have done occasional duty as window wipes and fly swats when nothing else is at hand in busy traffic. (Of course, they get washed in the washing machine occasionally, in case you're thinking EEW!)   I'm sorry to say there's six -- maybe seven -- little and not-so-little bears in our bed also;  they get used as pillows, such as to prop up an elbow when you're reading at night or to keep out the draft around your neck or as extra support to the middle of one's back when lying on one side. And then, there's half a dozen little bears sitting on a table upstairs, just collecting dust and they have a miniature tea set in front of them and appear to sip tea when we're not around. I don't want to think about the other dozen or more teddy bears that got stuffed into a suitcase and stored in the garage in a recent anti-hoarding binge. Nor do I really want to think about the number of bears we've given away in our sporadic urge to purge ourselves or to share with others. And, now,  I'm recalling there's a bear in the kitchen with a chef's hat and there's a giant bear in the man cave upstairs (seriously!), not to mention the keychain koala bear that hangs off my bag. I consider it a good day if I don't see a bear and buy it.  So we're bearing up pretty well with our toys. How about you? Ha ha.

Killing Our Trees Softly

Hoard leaning on tree

Sticky duct tape

Trash bag tied to tree

I don't know why it is that I now see how badly many are treating the trees locally but this abuse must stop.  Hardly a block away somebody has put several mattresses leaning against the tree with a big scraping on the bark as "they" had clearly adjusted the leaning angle against the tree to suit the mattress. When I looked again today, not only were there mattresses but also a door and some old furniture (!) all piled up as an eyesore leaning against what has been a pretty young and healthy tree on the sidewalk planted and paid for by taxpayers.  The recent rains have soaked the mattress and you just know it's getting moldy and nasty and will transport all kinds of stuff to the tree, bringing in infestations that will cause the tree to die sooner than it should.  Equally annoying to see are taped up notices or garbage bags attached to trees.  Clearly someone thinks a garbage bag on the street is helpful. However, what they are missing is that the tape is damaging the tree bark and providing a way for bacteria and bugs to get into the tree, and yes, you guessed it, causing the tree to die sooner than it should. Last summer I saw bikes chained to trees, and which are even more damaging.  Since the bicyclist generally returns to the bike soon, I taped notices onto the bikes asking the rider to not do this again.  In one case, when I verbally asked someone not to do this, the owner of the house beside the tree yelled at me that her tenant could tie her bike up wherever she felt like. I repeated loudly again that chaining bikes to trees is bad for the tree but she refused to listen.  I'm mystified by this disregard for trees.  Do people just see trees as objects, as dead and unreactive to the environment? Do they think trees are immortal and can take the abuse? Do they think trees should support our human activities even if the activity (throwing out junk, tying things to the tree) hurts the tree? Are these tree-abusers too lazy to call the city to take away the trash or junk? Are there any laws available to help this situation here in DC? What can be done?

Free Art All Over Bloomingdale

sculpture garden on 1st NW

Mural on W St NW

You really can't wander around in our section of the city very long without seeing some of the free art just lying in wait for your enjoyment. I've captured some of it here -- there's the iron lady sculpture on First Street, and there's now often a seasonal outdoor installation at the intersection of T and RI Ave, and for those who like to take walks up the alleys there's a huge colorful mural on the side of a house on W street. There's others if you go look but these were just a few I saw on a recent walkabout.

Easter Art on RI Ave NW

Ole Wreck of a Bloomingdale House

On another alley walk I found this gem that surely is a thorn in the side of its neighbors. I didn't go around and check out the front of this house but the back was this lovely ole wreck of a thing, with busted windows, broken fence, rotting upper floor walls and a big tree trunk with vines growing all over. I think I was in one of the alleys behind First Street NW but I can't be sure. You just know it's home to a lot more creatures than humans: it's sure to have a few birds and a mouse or two who have taken up residence, and maybe one of those mysterious raccoons I keep hearing about.
 

Perfectly Cracked Steps and Tilting Brick

There's just something about this very imperfect front yard with its tilting brick column, mismatched wood fence, cracked concrete steps, and useless leaning wrought iron gate that appeals to me. I even like the uneven mortaring of  the bricks and the slightly off-center cap on the brick column.  This "mess" is located on First Street NW and whenever I pass by I find myself enjoying this not-so-neat juxtaposition of materials.  While it's probably a hazard for pedestrians to enter this house yard as the steps are so damaged, you  have to admit there is evidence here of someone trying to make their front yard look better than just dirt and concrete.  But it looks like snow and ice and rain have done their inevitable work and heaved everything out of line. Other front yard entrances on First Street are very neat and tidy, even architectural, and that's what everyone likes and presumably wants.  However, this home-made attempt surely tells us that weather and water are more powerful than our sometimes good intentions. And, wouldn't  you agree, the palette of colors here -- reds, beige, grey, greens, white, black --  is enjoyable just on that basis alone?

Golden Marigolds and Sun Tea in November

The past month has been warm and sunny most of the time here in DC as we've had this lovely extended autumn. In fact I can hardly believe it's December. The marigolds just kept flowering, and a few times it was warm enough to make sun tea in a jar on the porch. In fact with Winter Solstice in three days it's hard to believe that the days will in fact start getting longer again! I'm not sure what to make of this except to be glad that I'm not falling down icy front steps, or losing umbrellas in rain storms or turning up the heat in the house.

Angels Hiding in Our Gardens

Passing a house near where I live recently I espied this little stone angel praying for growth in the garden perhaps, or maybe for us passersby to remember the source of all things? Then I saw two little angels sleeping on their sides on a back porch atop the handrails, dwarfed by the nearby plants. I bet there's even more of them hiding in the gardens around the neighborhood and I hope to stumble into them and photo them all sometime.

Slippery Ice Brings out Samaritan Neighbor

Stairs now have salt on them

I thought I was walking carefully enough down the front steps this morning when I left the house but oh no, on the second step down my feet went right out from under me and I slipped and bounced down the stairs on my back, banging and bruising my left elbow and lower spine all the way down. Basically, the steps were coated and crusted in clear ice, like a sheet of glass, after a night of freezing rain. When I got to the bottom --  about a four foot drop! -- I just laid there looking up at the sky, skirt blown up, yelling in pain. A kind neighbor heard my cries and came over and helped me to climb back up the stairs -- on all fours -- back into my house. He also helped pick up some of my belongings that had scattered out from my bag and made sure I was okay and got back into the house without further slipping and with my possessions.  He was very kind and thoughtful and I later realized that he was in the middle of taking his two children to school and had taken time away from leaving them in the car to pay attention to me. It's a wonderful blessing to have neighbors who are kind and act as Good Samaritans!

Oops, Easy to Miss the Alleys

First St NW alley

Adams St NW alley

W Street NW Alley

You can walk right by the entrances to the alleys, not even seeing them at all, but they are there if you look for them.  Sometimes narrow and rather dark, they are one of the reasons why you see little trash on the street, because most of it is in bins in the back alleys. They are also the reason why you don't see the trash truck pick up unless you get up early enough in the morning and exit out your back gate.  I only hear the noise of the trash trucks as these hardworking city employees (?) crash about upturning our bins and dislodging our rubbish into these giant trucks that they somehow manage to squeeze into the twists and turns of our neighborhood alleys. While walking by, the alley may beckon your longer glance to see glimpses of what your neighbors might be up to -- ladders and construction equipment signaling remodeling or tossed out mattresses and bureaus signaling new furniture, or cars parked closely to the garage wall when overnight guests have failed to get the visitor permit in time and don't want to risk the Parking Ticket Nazis on the street front.  The alleys often belong only to the cats and the stray dogs that got away during the day.  Occasionally, in the summer, you may see young people shooting baskets or playing ball if someone has been so kind as to put up a hoop. Of course, about a decade ago our alleys were the scenes of drug dealing, some prostitution, more than a handful of murders and some public drunkenness, but it seems like most of that has passed.  However, today if you do see someone walking through the alley from your house rear view windows you do find yourself  remarking about them and wonder what they might be up to in a different way than the people you notice walking by on the sidewalk in front of your house. There's something more unusual and more private about the public alley ways, as if the space has been reserved only for certain purposes like egress to a garage or garden or some other special purpose.  This layout and design adds a great deal to our neighborhood, in my opinion, and it's something we take for granted, so used are we to the benefits the alleys bring.

We Love Our Watha T. Daniel Library Books and DVDs

I went to return my library books and a movie DVD on my way to work the other morning and lo and behold all of the book return boxes were jammed full of returned books and DVDs at the Watha T. Daniel DC public library. In fact, returned books and DVDs were practically spilling out of all three of the return book slots! So my good intention to get the books back early was foiled by the sheer number of other readers and free movie watchers in my neighborhood who returned their materials before the library opened that day. Perhaps, like everyone else, I'd taken out a lot of books over the holiday and we'd all decided to return them that Monday morning of the New Year, getting off to a good resolution start, i.e., avoiding library fines!  So I lugged them over to the Watha T.Daniel library the next day, although I did note that there's one errant book I missed and I'm trying to remember where in the house I put it. This is a newly built all shiny metal and glass library building in the Shaw section -- that cost close to $12 million and is solar powered LEED certified not to waste energy! -- and that replaced the old 1975-built concrete edifice of similar shape but very dissimilar design that used to be there. And this new library has a modernistic lighted glass sculpture out front that -- so far -- has survived pigeon bombing and local graffitatos. (I'm also hoping someone will tell me in the comment box below who Watha T. Daniel was?) Thank God for positive change in our neighborhood!
Read Washington newspaper story on the opening of the library.

Sounds & Sights of the City at Solstice

You'd think things would have quieted down about 8:30 pm on this summer solstice eve but I just sat down on the porch and listened to a loud assortment of sounds. This is the front porch on this glorious evening in the city. Firstly, there's the dull roar of the NORAD planes up there in the sky over Washington DC doing some drills. Now a helicopter makes its blade-noisy way over to the nearest hospital. A motorcycle just roared by, slowed down by the Fedex truck groaning along looking for the right house. A bunch of birds are tweeting somewhere and a bunch of others are making coo coo noises while a few seem to be cawing and squeaking conversations about the street's residents. They're probably sated from the large assortment of bugs flitting about annoying us humans. Then there's two batches of cicadas grinding and clattering away in chorus at either end of the street. It's always hard to tell which tree they are in or where they are located but they usually all stop at the same time. Quite mysterious. Somewhere in the distance a siren goes off, perhaps it's police or an ambulance and one wonders momentarily what the disaster is, and then, martini in hand, I just forget about it as I'm distracted by some fireflies lighting up the myrtle. And with every breeze -- and there's more than a few -- wind chimes on people's porches are jingling and dingling in the erratic breezes sending soft tinkles out. Closer to where I'm sitting on the porch is the roar of my electric fan -- set up to blow away any flies or mosquitoes that dare trespass in my personal space. Some neighbors have someone banging on their door and the dogs are barking, not recognizing it's the owner's sister visiting. Every once in a while a car does it double toot as the driver locks it up automatically and double clicks the key. A porch door slams tinnily as someone goes out to work the night shift. I can even hear the noise of the TV as someone else watches the World Cup game tonight. Earlier, there were some little girls giggling on their way from the car to their house with their dad telling me how pleased he was that they made it through the first day of summer camp. Thank God for giggling little girls.