Signs of the Times in the Neighborhood

There's all kinds of signs in the neighborhood

while the big dig is going on -- from "underpinning and foundation," "road closed," "sidewalk closed ahead," to "dead end" and "detour."  I've also gotten used to orange traffic cones, orange speed signs in the alleys and just a plain lot of orange and white striped signs.   I suppose we just have to put up with it while the work goes on.  It didn't used to look like this around here.

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.

Seems Like It's Really Spring in #BloomingdaleDC

view south into Crispus Attucks park

some of the lovely daffodils in the 'hood

Just a short walk about locally near my house and you just can't miss that it is spring. There's tons of blossoms on the trees -  achoo! -- and there's so many daffodils, narcissus, stocks, tulips, violets and other pretty flowers everywhere. Also, it seems like every thing is very green, including the grass and all the other things suddenly sprouting out of the ground. I see the bluish green blades of the irises and the yellow green stalks of the day lilies coming up in some of the gardens.  Also you can see what is going to come up later such as the reddish leaves on the hundreds of rosebushes that people have planted that means there will be masses of roses later. 

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

Daffodils in January in BloomingdaleDC

DAFFODILS!

It's so astounding to see daffodils in the middle of January.  There were two clumps of them blazing yellowly in the cold windy air of this unusually warm winter month over on First Street, NW in Bloomingdale. Often by now we have had snow or rain or used at least two tankfuls of oil to heat the house. But it's been so warm we've had the windows open even, during the best part of the day. And we've got daffodils sprouting and blooming. Totally amazing!

Interesting buildings in Bloomingdale neighborhood

on RI Ave NW

on First St at T & RI Ave NW

on  First St NW

There's lots of interesting looking buildings in our section of the city since all the houses are built of brick and most built in the late 19th and early 20th century. They've also variegated a bit with bright colored paint and add-ons and things. I took one photo while I was at Boundary Stone Public House on RI Ave and another while looking at Rustik Tavern at the corner of three streets since I'm so pleased we now have two decent bars in walking distance of my house. The overall effect of the old neighborhood transforming makes it a very pleasant place to live..

Blooming Bloomingdale

Pink blossoms on V St NW

Narcissus in Crispus Attucks Park

These houses look like cakes

There's so many lovely blossoms in our Bloomingdale neighborhood this spring that of course I've run around with a camera and taken some photos. The pink Eastern Rosebuds and the narcissus and whatever those white flowered trees are, it all just looks so delightful and a welcome change from the winter.

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.

A Visit to the Red Toque Restaurant

The other day I visited the Red Toque restaurant, a new eating place in the vicinity of the local public library where I'd been tanking up on books to read over the holiday week. I espied the bright red door of this new place and said to myself that it would be good to get a snack there! So I ordered a lentil soup and got a cup of red chai tea with a glass of water for about $6 total.  The lentil soup was totally delicious and I would go there again for it. I think they made the chai tea with milk that was slightly off as it just didn't taste right.  When I finally sipped it I was no longer at the restaurant and was on my way home and didn't want to be bothered turning back and complaining. So I tossed it onto the garden to feed some trees well.

But the lentil soup was aromatic and spicy but not too hot and sharp and was made with a good stock.  The service was very good -- but then again, I was the sole customer at 3 in the afternoon! -- and there is a great view from the windows of the restaurant, right onto the street and passing cars. And I sat there and snapped a couple of passing vehicles as I supped. The picture windows themselves are a treat as they are the old-fashioned metal casement window frames that have hinges on the side and will likely be opened when the weather is fairer. Painted a shiny black they add great ambience to the cheery yellow painted walls, the high ceiling and surprisingly comfortable dining chairs.  On the walls hang framed black and white photos of old Washington, DC showing trolley cars and buildings long since torn down.  It's worth going in there just to see these!  This space used to be a bike repair store but that appears to have moved or perhaps went out of business.  I think the menu is Middle Eastern or Mediterranean and I hope to go back and try some of the other things. I'm also not sure why it's called "the Red Toque" but I think that's a hat or something.

Dragon Food

The Chinese Dragon carry-out at the corner of First and Rhode Island is closed most of the day. It only seems to open in the afternoon and evening for those who want to eat on the street. I've never bought a single thing from them as I don't have a clue what the food really is about.  This particular street food store got a bad name for itself during the crack-headed 90s because there was at least one shooting either inside the doorway or on the sidewalk out front every season. Somehow the place was associated with the drug dealing that used to occur 24/7 at the corner. There always seemed to be some sort of incident going down in front of the Dragon and in front of what used to be a liquor store on the right side. There were a number of local dealers who stood around and used the payphone that was out front. So the neighborhood activists signed a petition to have the payphone removed as a way to break up their business. Now the dealers use throwaway cell phones and seem to have other ways to meet their customers. Both the carryout and liquor store had counters with huge sheets of thick plexiglass in front of the cashiers to repel bullets and stick-ups, a feature that caused consternation when younger suburbanites started moving back into the neighborhood more recently.  The liquor store next door was bought out by an enterprising Ethiopian family who turned it into a more upmarket coffee shop, grocery, cafe and wine store -- with WiFi access!! -- and now it seems to be a going concern. It is certainly a lot sheeker store than what was there before. I wonder if the Dragon will go the way of the liquor store?

Those Glorious Myrtles

Crepe myrtles grow easily in the soil my neighborhood. They flower in several shades of pink, purple, and white gracing neighborhood gardens, waving their frondy heads at passersby with the slightest of breezes. Several of us on our street planted them about four years ago and we enjoy the different varieties; some are huge trees, some are bush size and some are something in between. They are a big splash of color that starts in early July and keep flowering well into August, especially if you water them a lot. They are not expensive to buy, they grow quickly and for us lazy gardeners, they don't need all the plant food, pesticides and attention that our rose bushes need and yet they give the same amount of pleasure in many ways. What a garden we all enjoy when we take the risk and plant something together!

Not My Funeral Yet

I go by this funeral home every time I take the G8 bus to or from work and wonder about who has their funeral there. It's "Frazier's Funeral Home Since 1917" and I've only ever seen two or three occasions when it looked like there was a viewing or funeral there in the twenty years or so I've been in the neighborhood. Once some people going in the doorway, dressed in their Sunday best. Another time, there was a crowd on the sidewalk and it looked like they were all about to go  in or leave, I couldn't tell. The building is at the intersection of Rhode Island and Florida Avenues northwest and stands out because of how the building is decorated.  At some time someone put this stone exterior over brick walls -- or so I assume since most of the buildings in the Shaw neighborhood are brick -- and then added the blue awnings or shades over the windows. And it's looked pretty much this way for a long time.  Once I saw a hearse parked in the alley alongside the building but there does not seem to be a lot of activity at the times I go by. Maybe funerals are at other times and, thank God, it's not my funeral yet.

Beer from a Sunbeam

Occasionally, and I mean occasionally, like maybe when it's really hot, I get a craving for a very cold beer and the best place for a single cold can of beer is the neighborhood Korean grocery on North Capitol street. Sunbeam is where I go for all the odd things I crave or need when I have forgotten to order something via Peapod, which is how I usually buy most groceries. So, the other day found me at Sunbeam, with son Joshua parked in his wheelchair outside the store, while I went in. The Americans With Disabilities Act hasn't been recognized at this corner grocery, like most of the little corner groceries in our neighborhood, so Joshua can't get in unless I heave his wheelchair up the one step. Which I can't do anymore as my back is giving out. Actually, he'd rather sit outside and watch the cars and trucks and buses whizzing by on North Capitol street while I dodge in for that really really cold can of malt beer or whatever it is I forgot. Sometimes it's a banana for Joshua's breakfast. You can buy one banana at a time at this store or a stick of butter if you forgot that and you really need it for pancakes for breakfast. The store also has an ATM but I'm a bit suspicious of such machines preferring instead to get cash from the bank directly. You can also buy lottery tickets there, but it's been a long time since I've felt really lucky since trusting in the Lord leads to better riches.