Travel Tuesday: A Sunday Afternoon Walk in Old Town Alexandria

The Raven Knows 

My unkind thought was that it was a couple of weeks to late for Halloween 

 

Monday Mood: Still Learning

 Dora over at Having Coffee With Peppy, wrote about reading and writing, and learning the fundamentals of the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic - apparently spelling was not in the basic skills list.) And that got me to thinking about how learning those basic skills, 60+ years ago, has shaped my life. 

I had difficulty learning to read, my brain is one of those that recognizes a word if the first and last letters are in the right place and more or less the correct letters are in between in any random order. Once my I made the leap to reading without being worried about spelling (yes my brain works that way) reading was easy. 

The first winter my family spent in Florida, the Spring Hill community center offered a class in speed reading. My father wanted to take it, and talked me into going along. He struggled with it, I took to it like a duckling to water.  It was short adult education class (I was just a teenager) that changed my life. I still read 30 to 60 pages an hour. 

Spell check was life changing for me. First it highlighted my spelling mistakes. Second by working through the corrections, my spelling has vastly improved over the past 30 years.  Third I write faster than I did when I was checking the spelling in every sentence against a copy of 30,000 words. 

Dr. Dee McGraw (she was amazing) at Rollins taught a seminar in advanced writing. The format of the class was to read a set of source materials, write an essay on based on those materials. Then reread the source materials, and add some new source materials, and rewrite the essay, we did this four of five times over the course of the semester.  That class taught me to research and write. Not by burying myself in endless research before putting pen to paper, but by starting, reading, and editing as an ongoing process.  

Serving on the Journal of Family Law in law school taught me the value of good editors. Good editors make writing clearer, without changing the meaning.  There is only one editor change that to this day I regret not fighting against. 

I still read lots and lots, I still write, I still explore the world, I still practice. There is an old saying that as long as you are green you are growing, as soon as you are ripe you start to rot.  I am still green, still growing, still leaning. 

The Sunday Five: Creative Writing Prompts 2.0

1: Who blocked the doors?

2: Why did they block the doors? 

3: Is this for your safety or the safety of those inside? 

4: What will happen to the building? 

5: When will the doors reopen? 

My answers: 

1: Who blocked the doors? The office manager at Dewey, Cheatem and Howe blocked the doors, 

2: Why did they block the doors? the party was getting out of hand, and word had gotten out on the streets that they were celebrating a major victory that would impose a 50% wealth tax on the 1%, and the place was being mobbed, 

3: Is this for your safety or the safety of those inside? she had to block the doors, the place was dangerously overcrowded, and more people wanted to join the party, endangering those in the space and those who wanted to crowd in, 

4: What will happen to the building? in a day or two the plasters, painters and flooring people will come in and redo the interior, new furniture will be ordered, there is already talk of turning the place into a grotto, a pilgrimage site for the average person, 

5: When will the doors reopen? work will recommence in a few days, when the party dies down, and everyone recognises that there is still work to be done. Much work, many more changes that must be made. 

Please share your answer or answers in the comments, it can be five answers, or a single narrative, be creative, and have fun. 

Oh, the real answer is this office building is being converted to apartments, with million dollar views of the Potomac River. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States and 52 Weeks - Virginia

Virginia is near and dear to my heart, I have lived in the state of Virginia since late 2008. I am not from here, but I have chosen to live here. 

Virginia was critical in the American Revolution, several of the founding fathers of the country lived in Virginia. George Washington, the first President lived about 8 miles south of where I do, he had dinner the Fairfax family a week before he died, in the Fairfax family home, located just in front of the building I live in. 

Virginia stretches from the Atlantic coast to the appalachian mountains in the west.  It boarders Washington DC, and Maryland on the north, at one point it is less than 2 miles from Pennsylvania. To the south is North Carolina. The western border is West Virginia and Kentucky, parts of the original British colony of Virginia.

Virginia has a deep, and at times troubled history. In the todays world, government and defense are major employers. 

There are still parts of the south east and west of the state that I have not explored. Something for us to do. 

I like it here, I chose to live here.  
 

Funky Friday: Running in the Past

It would be hard to tell by looking at me today, but I was a crazed runner from mid 1987, until late 1997. A decade of running, and also cycling, and a bit of swimming, and an hour of weight lifting five mornings a week.  Looking back at it, it was healthy in a very unhealthy way.  

My first race was in 1988, a sprint series triathlon, 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run, my finish time was 1:09. I really learned to swim properly, so I could do that race.  And I bought a decent bike, soon to be replaced by an outstanding bike - that is still hanging around my life.  

I ran mostly 5k races, almost every Saturday morning from October through about April, in Florida, the road race season is winter when the weather is cooler.  I did two seasons of sprint series triathlons, then work and school got in the way. There were a couple of 10k (6.2 mile) races in the season, I had to arrange the day off from work to do those and be on time. There was an annual half marathon in Orlando, in early December.  I ran and finished that twice. The first time was miserable, and I wished I was dead the next day. The second time was just unpleasant, and made me question why? 

Training carried on year around.  I ran every-other day. A typical work day, would have me up at 5:30, running on Park Avenue in Winter Park by 6:00, to the gym before 7:00 an hour in the weight room, shower dress and check in at the office by 9:00.  Work until 6:00 and two evenings a week, go to class from 6:45 to 9:30.  I would ride my bike, 30 to 50 miles each day on my days off, usually in the middle of the week.  

Looking back, it was a strange and funky time.  I was running from myself, changing myself, afraid of who I was, who I am, and at the same time trying to be the person I wanted. 

There were some wonderful runs, early mornings in Savannah, London, Amsterdam and Paris, gliding by seeing my reflection in the windows in the early morning light. There is a magic in running, floating along, to an internal rhythm. It always took me the first quarter to maybe first half mile to settle in, for my breathing to become comfortable, for my heart and breathing to sync up, then time both stood still and moved in a flash. Fatigue and pain came later, usually after the run (except for those cursed half-marathons.) 

I am glad I had those experiences. But I also realize that I pushed too much, I obsessed.  I didn't eat well, I didn't get enough rest. I was being superman and trying to do it all.  

Why did I quit? That is an even longer story. 

Why don't I go back to running?  Age, weight, titanium in my spine, it just isn't good for me. 

What is my current hopefully healthier obsession? Walking an hour a day, and 45 minutes of active movement in the pool.  Not the same, but it does feel good. 

 

Thursday Ramble: It is that time of the year

It is the time of the year when the weather turns cooler, even cold at times, and the leaves mature to yellow, gold, and red and drop by the billions. It is a very pretty time of the year. We have reached, or may be just past the peak of the fall color season.  A couple of wet and windy days and the trees will be bare until spring.  That could happen any day, I have seen many years where the last of the leaf cover hung on until the end of November. 

Two of my favorite vendors at the farmers market were telling everyone that last Saturday was the end of their season, see you next year.  One is a small organic farm that has amazing vegetables, the other a heritage orchard that had the most wonderful pears this fall. Understanding gardens and farms, I understand why it is the end of their season, they will be missed.  The vendors that are there all winter, especially those that are selling tomatoes in December, most likely are buying produce that is shipped in. One vendor specializes in restaurant produce - and often has veggies you can't buy elsewhere (Irish carrots for example.) Lettuces are grown all winter in polytunnels and greenhouses, one of my favorite vendors will sell greenhouse produce and things they grew and that store well (root veggies) all winter. There are a couple of local mushroom farms that will have fresh and local all winter.  I am going to try to go every Saturday all winter this year, and not wimp out when the weather gets colder. 

It is a wonderful time of the year for a long walk, a slow ramble, or a drive with the top down on the little car.  Like all of life, enjoy it while it is here.  

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday Ws for November 12, 2025

Was it a shipwreck, or was it grounded and left to rot? No one really seems to know, this is the remains of a small cargo barge grounded on the end of one of the small islands at Dyke Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. It has been there for decades and decades. 

Where have I been this week?  Dyke Marsh on the Potomac, Mt. Vernon, Old Town Alexandria a couple of times, the farmers market, and a couple of days of not leaving home. Into Washington DC, a walk around the White House trying to see what is being torn down and built, I don't know what they are trying to hide, but they have built huge plywood walls making it impossible to see what they are hiding.  I have never seen the White House so isolated.  On Tuesday, out for a short drive with several stops to wander in stores, it was too cold and windy to walk outside.  

Who have a talked to this week? My Sweet Bear, Amy, Ruth, Giuseppe, Larry, Susan, Ana, Rafael, Matt, Warren, Karen, Erica, Charlie, and Marcell. 

What did I buy this week? A replacement lens for my cameras. My daily carry is a Nikon D5500 DSLR, I have two of them. My go to lens is Nikkor 18-200 DX series. The motor that moves lens elements back and forth for the auto focus function is in the lens and it is failing.  I switched lenses around and isolated the problem.  I can turn off autofocus. The focus ring on the lens is awkwardly placed, and my eyesight for focus is not what it was 50 years ago. Nikon has discontinued this series of cameras and lenses. I order a replacement from KEH in Atlanta, I have bought from them in the past and found them to be very reliable. In about 52 years of carrying cameras, this is only the second time I have replaced a lens, the other time I dropped a camera on a stone floor, in the Louvre in Paris, it landed lens down and parts fell out when I took the lens off. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Stuffed cabbage, Pizza, Nicoise Salad, roast beef and veggies, beef stew.  

What have I been writing? I am working on two articles for the ABA Senior Lawyers Division, one on the value of visiting people who are seriously ill, and one on planning independent travel.  

What is happening with the arts group? We had a meeting last week asking association leadership if we could plug artwork into the power supply, and the answer was a very engaged yes. This opens the door for backlit displays such as stained glass or transparent materials, and also to a multi-media display for electronic arts.  I hope we can encourage our neighbors to explore new media. 

What did I overhear this week?  I took the subway in and out of DC on Sunday. On the way out there was a couple sitting across from me, on their way to the airport to fly out to a conference. She was scrolling on her phone, she said, "it was three years ago today that we sold our car, I was worried that I would miss it, I really don't, it is nice to free of that burden." Living in a city with a good transit system, makes it possible for people to live well without the responsibility and expense of a car.  

What was the dumbest idea someone came up with this week?  HWSNBN and the trust fund billionaire grandson who is responsible for housing policy, floated the idea of offering 50 year home mortgages. On a $400,000 home, it would lower the monthly payment $200-$300 a month. It also nearly doubles the interest that would be paid on the mortgage over the term of the loan.  We need to address other factors that are driving housing prices, not create perpetual payment plans that have the "buyer" never really owning the home.  I urge people with a 30 year mortgage to make extra principal payments to get the mortgage paid off.