Super Decorated Car in #DupontCircle

I saw a car decorated with paint designs over near Dupont Circle the other day and was totally amazed at how this Ford had been individualized. There were birds, eyes, flowers and all kinds of designs in bright colors all over the vehicle.  It looked like someone had completely dreamed up a way to make their car look different.  I have no idea whose car it is or why it is like this but I couldn't help thinking what if all cars were decorated like this?  What if you could order up your car with a selection of optional images on it like this when it is delivered? What if there were places, somewhat like tattoo parlors with pages of images for cars, where you can just drive in and get your car done up like this? Wouldn't commuting be more interesting?  And when you're stuck in traffic wouldn't it be nice to see something like this?  Amazing street sight!

Hidden Passageways in #BloomingdaleDC

When I first moved into Bloomingdale there were a lot more open passageways between the houses and alleys and streets that seemed to be public rights of way. Wide enough for a person to walk through but not any vehicles, you'd occasionally find one as you explored an alley or space between two houses in a row of townhouses.  Unfortunately, during the crack epidemic of the 90s they were allegedly used by drug dealers and buyers as a means of evading detection and disappearing quickly during a crackdown (no pun intended) so many of these passageways were blocked by gates by nearby owners. There is at least one passageway I know of that is still open but over time it seems more and more the gates have stayed locked for others.  I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm of two minds about whether these should be opened up; firstly there are still criminal elements in our neighborhood who might make use of passageways if they are opened up and who wants to give thugs even more opportunities to sprint away quickly. Secondly, I've been thinking, if they were opened up they would make nice walkways for people. But I'm not sure about the public rights of way piece and how any claim or effort to make this happen might work. On the other hand, I'm afraid of the dog poop problem expanding into new foot traffic areas were such passageways to open up.  Note: once a week I see a large poop on a sidewalk and people are still trying to get away with walking their dogs "unleashed", such scofflawing in my opinion, leads to unpicked up poop.  Then, of course, the bicycle nazis would probably want to claim these passageways for their use and their goes my peaceful meander when I'm forced to step aside for a whizzing bike.  Overall, however, I'm for opened up passageways so we have more walking routes to go on..

No Parking in the Sunflowers in DC

I forgot to publish this photo when I snapped it while waiting at the bus stop at the corner of P and 16th Streets NW last summer. This "No Parking" sign 'grows' among the sunflowers that someone had so nicely planted in the tree box alongside the church there. I believe this is the Foundry United Methodist Church which President Clinton occasionally went to when he was in office.  These tall flowers certainly made standing waiting in the heat for the #G8 WMATA bus a lot more tolerable as it was late again (!) and watching traffic really isn't that interesting! A big thank you to whoever planted these! Blessings on you!

There Goes that Elusive Verizon FiOs Truck!

Sometime in the past month I actually for the first time ever saw a FiOs truck go by me here in DC. Big and white and shiny with a picture of a giant TV with blue ribbons tailing along the side of the van, it surely looked like something new in town as I sat at the bus stop watching the traffic go by.  You have to realize that in my neighborhood no-one has Verizon FiOs as they haven't laid the fiber cable yet here and I've heard it will be years before it will happen. While there's some diehard over-the-air free TV types, most either have cable or satellite TV and most get Internet either via DSL or a bundled cable TV package. Some spring for 4G wireless but that really adds to the bill.  As a DirecTV subscriber AND a Verizon DSL subscriber, we'd like to lower the costs of all our electronic communications so we keep hoping FiOs will come to our neighborhood soon.  We receive Comcast promotion cards in the mail all the time, trying to persuade us to switch back to cable TV in a bundled package with their phone and Internet. We also see Comcast trucks a lot.  And I have a neighbor who works for Comcast and he says it's a great company.  Somehow, though, we've come to really like our satellite TV service as the service people are extraordinarily nice when you talk to them about adding a TV channel or two or otherwise adjusting the bill. But, there I was at the bus stop and there went that elusive FiOs truck and I started to imagine having all my communications service on one bill, and a really fast and strong connection and maybe even a bit cheaper than all the different providers we have now.......hmm....

Temple Enshrining Sacred Documents in Washington DC

U.S. Archives Building

I was trapped in traffic due to the road repair near the White House so, during an impatient pause, I glanced out of the window and lo and behold saw the nation's temple that contains the U.S. Constitution. It's quite  marvelous, isn't it, to be stuck in traffic in downtown Washington DC and yet to find oneself for a few quick minutes looking at a classical style building in which you know sits a copy on display of the veritable U.S. Constitution. Makes you think of your Civics and Government Studies class if you were blessed enough to have partaken of one. So which one is your favorite provision or Amendment? I'm rather partial to Amendment IX (i.e., The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people). This always gives me food for thought on what rights are being infringed upon.   Even though it was a busy Saturday afternoon, there were very few tourists at this time of year so I had a clear view of the Corinthian columns and exhibition pennants. I noticed some sort of '50s retrospective exhibit seemed to be the subject, but then, the light changed, traffic cleared and off I went.  And got a shot of the north side of this Archives Building too, during slow traffic on 7th street. Amazing!

North side of Archives Building

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.

Serious Crash on Route 7 East, Virginia

When I drove home from Leesburg, Virginia today about 5 pm traffic was tied up for about 45 minutes. I suspected an accident but hoped it was just back-up from all the construction going on around Tyson's Corner or maybe just heavier-than-usual Christmas shopping. But about 25 minutes into the 10 mile-an-hour crawl, I saw flashing blue lights and orange blinking lights up ahead and knew that some accident had occurred. By the time I got to the site of the accident they were cleaning it up. The car that had been impacted the most -- that is destroyed-- had been hoisted onto a tow truck. I think there had been ambulances and maybe a fire-truck or two. Apparently a lot of gasoline or oil had been spilled so there was a small crew pouring sand or gravel onto the liquid and then shoveling it up. I couldn't look too long but I was astounded and shocked by what little I was able to see as I drove past (and snapped this photo quickly!). Of course, right after, the road was totally clear and I was able to speed home, at normal speed, you can be sure.  What can the sight of the remains of an accident do for us but remind us at the very least to drive more carefully, more respectfully of each other and to pay closer attention.

Side Trip to Philly, Dinner in the Dining Car

View from the diner window

Lamp over each booth

On our way back from visiting our son in Pennsylvania, we occasionally stop at a diner, The Dining Car, for a quiet meal and to avoid the local traffic that clogs up Route 95 during the dinner hour. One of the reasons we like to eat here is that the food is edible and cheap, it seems clean, and the service is quick and they serve just about anything you might want in a diner. It's also barely a stone's throw from the main road so we don't feel like we are getting too far off our way and of course, it has lots of parking and you can tell from the car number plates that it's a local favorite. I can get a nice martini with my Cobb salad or french fries and it seems like the portions are not too large and not too small. My husband can get his onion soup too and he will settle for a Pepsi there, although he'll give the waitress a hard time about it being a non-Coke establishment. The customers don't look like customers in DC restaurants:  there's lots of groups of older people eating together, families with teen kids, twosomes of 60 year old guys, or trios of women in their 70s eating together so the ambiance doesn't feel like the capital city.  It makes me realize how the DC Demographic is quite different comparatively.  What's nice is the decor has some very nice deco elements too, such as in the lamps and the overall appearance of the building. We've also gotten our favorite BLTs and bought cookies in the bakery shop on our way out. So you can see, this is a very useful place for us to go on our travels.100 miles away from the capital city and you are in another part of God's country.  As it turns out, this diner is featured in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip, a book listed on Amazon.com!  Who knew! I never read it but I hope the author gave them a good grade!

Supreme Moment

It was 100 degrees Fahrenheit so I took a cab home past the Supreme Court the other day and when the cab paused at the traffic light, I rolled down the window and snapped this shot. In just a few seconds ancient Greece is captured, tourists visiting Washington, D.C., tons of gleaming white marble are displayed, not to mention some incredible representational sculpture, a security guard, an interesting lamp, and "equal justice under law". A closer inspection indicates a wonderful frieze of figures with a crowned Wisdom presiding over several figures, two admiring centurions, one holding a scroll and another holding a sword.She looks off into the far distance, through the netting that holds back the pooping pigeons, ignoring the steps, the tourists, the security guard, the hot pavement and my cab. Well, it's just a building but an awful lot hangs on it.

Vans Full of Money

You see these vans full of money all over the city if you stop and look a while and don't let the hustle and bustle of the traffic blur in front of your eyes. While waiting for the Route 80 bus at the Kennedy Center, along came this big ole Hummer-looking Dunbar money pick-up truck on a Sunday (!) afternoon. It reminded me that in all cities you will see these trucks going by, doing their business. I don't spend much time wondering how much money is in them, or where they are going, or what happens next with the boxes or bags of cash they carry. Is it cash or do they also take checks?  I do observe how there are usually two or three guys guarding what is other people's property and what a responsible, invisible and thankless job they have. I find myself always a bit more alert if I focus on these vans as movies have conditioned me to think of hold-ups and shoot-ups involving money vans. Alas, I've never been a witness, thank God, and don't have to worry about the car plate number of the get-away car or ducking the bullets if they start flying.  But, like the water we take for granted, the bags of money are being moved about within a system of their own. Seeing the van on the street is just the tip of that iceberg, in my humble opinion.

Those Careening Bicyclists of DC

Today it was the bicyclists that got on my nerves. While driving in to work, a fast-moving object whizzed by me on the left side practically taking my side view mirror with him. A closer look indicated it was one of DC's crazy bicyclists. Then, while I was walking on the side walk a bicycle rider came charging at me and then suddenly veered to one side so he wouldn't crash into me, thank you very much. My cab driver commented on the new bike lanes down Pennsylvania avenue stating that the "mayor did that, he's one of them, it's such a waste of space, causes all the cars to use one lane while the bike lane is empty." And that did seem to be the case!
Going home I saw a child perched on a child seat with dad dutifully pedaling away behind him as they made their way through heavily fumed buses, trucks and cars on a bike. While both had little plastic helmets on they would have been no match for a sudden stop or turn by the gleaming gas-driven behemoths around them. I was just glad bicycling dad was in the far right lane alongside the curb,thank God!