My Oyster

Greetings from Seattle...

Greetings from Seattle Washington postcard, originally uploaded by Smaddy.

This postcard is from 1977. The city looks different now.

I arrived tonight. Late. Slow bags. The W hotel is booked up, so I am at a Sheraton. Blah. Big conference in town so the only rental Avis had was a mini van. Blah. Blah. A Chevy Uplander?!

Oh well. I still like it here - but I am here for a long time this trip.

Sunday morning with President Buchanan...

I love taking an early morning walk on Sundays in DC. 

It is the most relaxing time of the week.  The city is still quiet.  In the summer, it's not too hot yet - at least in the shade. The people watching is great - a mix of those stumbling home from the night before, those eager to start their day - often with a dog - and those that.. just can't easily be described.  All very interesting. 

Jean and I took an early morning walk and started our day with a coffee and the paper in Malcolm X Park.  I have been coming here for 16 years now and love it.  For some reason the statue above - part of the President Buchanan memorial - caught my eye today.  I am sure there is some meaning as to why this young guy is sitting next to the President.  I couldn't figure out why.  I wonder if they are going to include a half naked man with a six-pack in the George W. Bush memorial.

Here are Jean and I.  I used a Starbucks venti coffee cup as a tripod to take the snap.

Two Wheels in Brookeville, Maryland...

Brookville Academy - Brookville, MD, originally uploaded by pvan75.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

I have not been biking much since last fall. Vijay convinced me to go this morning for a 45 mile ride out in Montgomery, Howard & Carroll counties. That seemed doable.

The 45 mile ride somehow became a 60 mile ride on some very, very hilly terrain. My bum hurts. On top if it, he picked me up early 5:45am so we could beat the heat. That is pretty darn early for a Saturday.

The ride was beautiful though. One town we passed through was Brookeville. I had never been there. It seemed like one of those very old rural Maryland towns.

Brookeville was settled by Quakers late in the 1700s and was formally incorporated as a town in 1808. During the Civil War, Brookeville was a stop on the underground railroad.

The building above is Brookeville Academy. It was founded in 1808 largely by Anglicans and won acclaim as an academic and character-building institution for a century.

Nice building even today.

Happy Birthday Tut...

Colby Museum 090, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

My father turned 71 today.

That is him in the pic above. I like this pic because I think it is the only one I have of him in a museum.

We do lots of things together, he and I, and always have. When I was a kid we did the outdoorsy stuff he loves. Ice fishing, sports stuff. Camping. Now when I am spending time up in Maine we watch TV together most nights after my mother has gone to bed. Always the Red Sox if they are on. Lately the HBO John Adams series, if they aren't on.

But this pic at the Colby Art Museum in Waterville was our first visit together to a museum - at least as far as I can remember. It was on a sunny but cold February day in central Maine.

I think he enjoyed the visit. I really did.

Happy Birthday!

Safety First & Some Good Lovin'

The Hood, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

That is my neighborhood in Columbia Heights in DC. I love it.

It needs some good lovin' these days. We are having some crime and violence problems.

I am in one of the 3 W shaped buildings in the center. I have the best view in the city. I can walk to anything I would ever want. I live in one of the most diverse areas around.

My W building is a condo and the other two Ws are subsidized housing. There are several public housing buildings within a couple blocks from me too. And a big high school across the street. Apparently, all of them are sources of crime & violence problems in my 'hood.

All of this is taking place at a time of enormous change and disruption and displacement in the area - with lots of new and expensive condos going up.

That was all pointed out to me and my neighbors tonight by a lieutenant from the DC Metropolitan Police Department. She came to meet with us along with a representative from Councilman Jim Graham's office.

They came to meet with us because of the increase in crime lately around my building. On the 4th of July there was a shooting murder on my block. Last week, when I was in Maine, one of my neighbors was assaulted - IN the lobby.

We are all very worried.

It was a long and emotional meeting. I was impressed by the DC police department. I didn't think I would be. But the Lieutenant seemed to know every block by heart. She took notes. She made commitments. She asked several times to be invited back to our building in a month to be held accountable for improvements and changes in the area. I liked that.

The jury is still out on Councilman Graham. I will be watching closely on his follow-up. The ridiculous DC Government has actually blocked some improvements we have tried to make in the area - like making our block a one-way street to reduce the cruising and drug dealing. Graham better get those things fixed.

There is also a lot that we as a building will need to do and as individuals. For starters, I changed the time of my party in a couple weeks from in the evening to in the afternoon. I don't feel safe having my guests leave late at night. That is sad.

I am also going to check into volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club across 14th street. Maybe that is a longer term solution, but I liked the idea of investing back in the community - and the problems we are having seem to be with the youth.

Despite the circumstances, it was great to spend the evening with my neighbors.

Nothing says "Welcome Home" like scorching heat...

Day 100/366; One Hundred!, originally uploaded by aperryz302.

I got back to DC late this afternoon. Daryl drove me to the new Harris Teeter for some groceries. My cupboard was bare. As always.

At some point during the 5 block drive to the Teeter, I glanced down at the dashboard. The time was 6:30pm. The temperature, even that late in the day, was still 100 DEGREES!

That was not the heat index. It was the straight up temperature. Triple digits. Ugh.

All I could see from where I stood...

Was three long mountains and a wood.

I turned and looked the other way,

And saw three islands in a bay

Those are the first few lines of Renascence - one of my favorite poems.  It is by Edna St. Vincent Millay - a woman who spent lots of time in Camden and on Mount Battie.  Check her out - she is very interesting.    

In fact, the view from the summit of Mount Battie was said to have inspired St. Vincent Millay's poem "Renascence" and those opening lines. 

That is where we went today - Camden and Mount Battie.  It is a favorite spot of mine in Maine, so I wanted Jean to see it. Here we are atop Mount Battie...

We started our afternoon with a drive to the summit with Mammie & Tut.  The summit offers sweeping views of Camden, Penobscot Bay, and surrounding islands.

On the entire Atlantic coastline there are only two places where the mountains meet the sea - one is in Camden and the other Mt. Desert.  BOTH are in Maine.

Here is the view of Camden Harbor from the top of Mount Battie...

And here is the view closer up from our harborside lunch...

And here are Mammie, Tut, and Jean looking at the view at lunch...

The heart can push the sea and land

Farther away on either hand;

The soul can split the sky in two,

And let the face of God shine through.

More pics from Camden here.

Touring the Kennebec River Towns...

There is actually more to see in my little hometown than I remembered.

Jean's visit to Augusta has given me the opportunity to rediscover the interesting and touristy parts of my little corner of Maine.  Today Sarah and I took him all around 3 towns along the Kennebec River - Augusta, Gardiner, and Hallowell

We started the day with brunch at a diner by the river in Gardiner.  We ended the day with fireworks over the river in Hallowell - to celebrate the city's birthday.  In between we had a LOT of Augusta and even a lobster dinner (pronounced lobstah dinnah) at my brother's house.

Here are a few moments from the day...

Sarah and I at the beautiful old library in Gardiner.

The mighty Kennebec River running through downtown Augusta.

Augusta is the capital city of Maine.

Sarah and me in front of our alma mater - Cony High School.

My lobstah - prepared by Mike.

Jean and the clams (white) and mussels (black).

Food and fun on the Kennebec to celebrate Old Hallowell Days.

Old Hallowell Days fireworks.

Many more moments at my flickr account here.

I've Been Tubbified...

I made my first visit to Tubby's in Wayne, Maine tonight.  And I left in a pleasant and satisfied state.  So did Mammie, Tut, and Sarah.

THIS is Summer.  Or how it should be.  Every day.  Sitting in a small New England town, by the lake, on a warm evening at sunset, eating home made ice cream out of a waffle cone.

Here I am...

And here are Mammie and Sarah...

It just doesn't get any better.

Yankee Stadium Tonight...

502px-2008_MLB_All-Star_Game_Logo.svg, originally uploaded by guyonthecomputer.

I am watching the 2008 all-star game with my father. ZZZZZZZ.

Apparently it is a big deal cuz the game is being played at Yankee Stadium during this, its last year. The new one opens next year.

I have only been to Yankee Stadium once.

It was to see Patti LaBelle and Cyndi Lauper perform for 55,000 screaming fans at the closing ceremonies for Gay Games IV which were planned to coincide with Stonewall 25, the 25th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots in Greenwich Village in New York City, and the June 26th "International March on the United Nations to Affirm the Human rights of Lesbian and Gay People".

It was a memorable visit.