Life Along the Potomac River

Life Along the Potomac River

I have been in the Washington DC area for five years.  Prior to this I lived in Kentucky for a decade, far to far away from the water.  I was only here a few days when I stepped outside one morning and I could smell the water, the joys of living within half-a-mile of a major waterway.  It reminded me of Florida, where I lived near the water for a couple of decades (I am getting old.)

Potomac is an anglicized version of a native American name Patawomeck.  Where the river passes the City, it is over a quarter-mile wide - broadening out as it moves south to about a mile in Alexandria where I live. The river is shallow, with a boat channel in the middle. The river moderates the climate along it’s shores.  In a typical winter the river will get a glaze of ice for a few days in the deepest of the cold.  Potomac is just one of the strange river names in Virginia, the Occoquan River is only about 10 miles south of here.

I love being near the water, I like the smell of the water, the humidity and the moderating effect on the area along the river.  About ⅓ of the time I ride my bike to and from the office, about 11.5 miles each way.  Over 6 miles of that is on the Mt. Vernon Trail that runs along the river.