Neighborhood Oddments: A Little Dog, a Bike, Mattresses and a Chair

Little dog likes to ride

Bike stuck in tree

Mattresses stuffed behind drainpipe

Weathered chair in alley

I was just driving slowly through the neighborhood over the past coupla months and saw some interesting things that caught my eye.  For instance, this little dog was quite happy to be in the front seat looking out as the car drove down the street.  Then there's this bicycle piece caught up in a tree,  perhaps it thought it was a plant or something.  Then, what about those mattresses tucked  neatly behind a water drainpipe? Who put them there? Are they serving some purpose like buffering some noise or stopping cars get scratched or something? And I nearly picked up this ole weathered chair a few times, with some idea to paint it but then decided to just leave it there, as it really did look good, all grey against the red fence wood.  I just never know what surprises might be in store for me when I drive through my neighborhood.

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?

Best Little Chicken Salad Sandwich in DC

If you want a really good chicken salad sandwich if you're in downtown D.C. I think the best place is Harry's bar on the ground floor of the Hotel Harrington, a famous DC landmark on E street NW.  Apparently over 10 million people have slept there since it opened in 1914!  I hope they've changed the mattresses!!  But back to the main subject. We've often gone to Harry's after work on a Friday for a good chicken salad sandwich and then over to the E Street Movie Cinema afterwards. It's also easy to get to for me, as I just take the D street bus which stops right in front of my office and but one block from Harry's. Of course, we don't just have sandwiches but also there are great drinks at Harry's too, such as big and cheap martinis with the vodka of your choice, or a very good beer. Another good thing about Harry's is the music tape which plays remakes of 80s and 90s music over and over. If there's chicken salad in heaven, I'm sure it's made by Harry.