Corner of First and Rhode Island in Bloomingdale

Corner of First and Rhode Island

I'm not sure why I took this photo recently of the buildings at the corner of two local streets except that this corner has not really changed much since I first moved into the Bloomingdale neighborhood over twenty years ago. Oh, they've added a coat of paint or two, awnings and signs have changed and been added, the tree's grown, plant pots added, new owners and new tenants, that sort of thing. But the size and scale of the buildings hasn't changed. The two stores are still single storey shops. The grey painted house on the left is still residential and not converted to a business use (although I think someone used to do taxes there on the first floor at one time). The Chinese Dragon in the middle has been selling carry out food the whole twenty years. And, I don't think their menu has changed much! The Windows Cafe on the corner replaced a dumpy liquor store and has contributed to the greatest change as it is a cafe and not one of those stores with the cashier behind plexiglass. They now have potted plants growing out front and to the side and tables and chairs for guests. So, it's a lot more civilized looking.  Part of my thinking was to photograph these corner buildings before real change occurs -- like someone tears the building down and puts a giant glass thing there, or a change is made that alters the scale of the buildings in relation to each other, like an addition or a fence or a switch from business to residential status. So, I've captured it for now and we'll have to see what happens in the next twenty years.

Jury Duty in the H. Carl Moultrie Building

Bronze Bust of Carl Moultrie

Entranceway: Carl Moultrie Building

This week I was called for jury duty and had marked it in my calendar but managed to sleep late that morning missing the 8 a.m. show up time. Nevertheless, I dashed over to the Carl Moutrie DC Superior Court House building arriving just before 10 a.m., relieved to find I could still check in (and not get fined $300 or thrown into jail as a no-show!). The clerk was very pleasant about it and explained well how I needed to sign in and what the next steps were.  So I waited in the "jury waiting room" for a panel to be called sorry that I hadn't brought a book or my laptop as they now have WiFi there! I was among the first jurors called about fifteen minutes later and we went before the judge for review of our ability to be "fair and impartial" in light of the charge. Clearly I had great difficulty with the charge --the only charge was felony possession of a handgun -- and so the judge excused me and I was sent back to the jury waiting room in case another panel was called.  After lunch I had time to peruse the bronze  plaque on the wall that explained how Carl Moultrie was the first African-American judge in D.C. Superior Court, appointed in 1972 by President Richard Nixon. Apparently he was instrumental in ensuring better court processes in D.C. courts were established among other achievements. Then back to the jury waiting room; about 3:15 p.m. another court clerk came in and said she was going to dismiss us as long we had not been instructed by any judge to re-appear. Two women in the back of the waiting room said they were supposed to be at one judge's chambers at 2:30 pm but "the door was locked and we couldn't get in."  This elicited a very angry lecture from the clerk who castigated these two prospective jurors for disobeying the judge's order back to his court. They protested again that the door was locked but the clerk continued to rail against them saying they should have gone to the court clerk's office and they were in danger of contempt of court. Another juror interrupted the clerk's angry lecture asking her to "please dismiss the rest of us if that is what you were going to do."  This elicited another angry admonishment by the clerk who said she wasn't finished talking to the other jurors about their obligation to appear when a judge ordered them and she wasn't ready to dismiss anyone yet.  I think everyone was silenced by this pure bureaucratic rage and hoped they'd be let go soon. Once the clerk finished her diatribe she did in fact let the rest of us go who had not been called into a judge's chamber, thanking us for our service and how we would not be contacted for another two years.  In the stairway down, a fellow juror muttered "she didn't have to be so nasty."  I agreed but did let her know that this jury experience was better than it used to be -- smoother security with politer guards, automated payment system for travel expense, new padded chairs, television with captioning, reading materials, trash and recycling barrels and a paint job in the jurors' waiting room, and a nearby clean women's bathroom. Also, overall the building was a lot cleaner, the cafe in the basement was more organized and -- but for this officious clerk -- the experience was much more pleasant than when I did jury duty previously.

Museum Days

With my mother-in-law visiting, it was a perfect excuse to tank up on the exhibits at the National Gallery of Art, the American Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art. So we saw a somewhat interesting set of portraits of Elvis Presley, the Norman Rockwell exhibit from the collection by Stephen Spielberg and a good walk-through of favorites from the National Gallery. I always have to check out my favorite paintings and the wonderful experience of walking through the computer-generated light tunnel to the cafeteria for lunch in the national gallery. There's all the Madonna and Christ images that I must see as well as the huge American Frank Church landscapes and the Turner-Mallord seascapes. So this time, I took my camera with me and took photos of many of these.  On special loan from another museum was the Auguste Saint-Gaudens sculpture called Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th African American regiment that fought in the civil war. This is truly a spectacular relief type sculpture in a bright red shiny bronze material and well worth the visit alone. To our surprise the museums were not that crowded and when we ate at the very nice, and expensive, cafe-style restaurants at the galleries the food was fresh and there were not long lines. For a weekend in the middle of July I really did expect more people in the galleries. The same was true for parking -- plenty of available spots for the National Gallery. Manifold blessings in the city!