Funky Friday: The morning after

 

I hope old blue eyes, got to you, before he got to the bottle of Grey Goose Vodka.  I wouldn't be really surprised if after weeks of listening to all of the demands, and reading all of the letters, and then a night of deliveries that Amazon needs an army of elves to come close to matching, he didn't want to let his flowing white hair down just a little.  Still I was a little worried when I found him tripped up by a sign and fallen over on the sidewalk, how he fell without breaking that bottle of vodka may be the biggest Christmas miracle of 2025.

My advice to you, is take it easy today. Sleep late. Eat and drink with restraint. Take a minute to take stock of everything we have.  There is a point in the movie "Apollo 13" where Gene Kranz calms a room full of engineers and says, we need to focus on what works, on what we have. This morning is a great time to do that. List everything that works without focusing on what does not. The solutions are in what works, not in the things that do not.  

The rest of the story of Santa sprawled out on the sidewalk.  He blew over in the wind. There were people gathered around taking photos when I approached.  When they were finished one of them picked up the bottle of Vodka, then noticed me with a camera, and said "would you like a photo with Santa?" she put the bottle back in his arm. When I finished she picked the bottle back up and went inside, back to work in the store that he has spent a few weeks standing in front of. A shop staff with a sense of humor just a couple of days before Christmas, or maybe a little liquid encouragement. 

The Thursday Ramble: Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 A short and simple message.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Relax today. 

Free yourself from worry.

Everything is just fine.

Enjoy what you have, and you will have something most rich people never have, and that is enough. 

Cherish those around you, and those at a distance. 

Do what you want to do today, and if that is nothing, that is exactly what you should do. 

Feel the love from near and far. 

My World of Wonders: December 24, 2025

 

What are my gifts to my readers this year? Advertising has been turned down to a minimum and will be going away in a few short weeks. I will keep writing, hopefully sharing positive ideas for all of you. 

When will you visit the Washington DC area? This is up to you. When you do, reach out to me, you can send an email through the contact box on the left, or leave a comment on the day a post goes up. I would love to meet you for breakfast or lunch while you are here. I am glad to offer advice on how to visit DC (tip number 1, don't drive a car into the district.) I have visitors passes for Mount Vernon that I am glad to share, free admission for up to two adults. If you need helping getting to and from Mt. Vernon, I will try to help. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen this week? Oh it is that time of the year. Last Thursday I made chicken pies. I had poached chicken from a couple of days before when I made stock. I steamed fresh carrots and green beans. Made cheesy mashed potatoes and a thick sauce with the chicken stock and a basic roux. Sauted a few mushrooms. I layered the chicken and veggies in ramekins, poured over the sauce, topped with mashed potatoes and baked in a 425 F oven for about 35 minutes. Lamb stew - oh my, thanks to Stephen's late mother Peggy for telling me how to make it. 

Where have I been this week? The pool, the gym, Mt Vernon, the King Street Farmers Market, the Russian Grocery for caviar and chocolate, out to lunch at our favorite Vietnamese place, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, lots of grocery and specialty shopping at this time of the year. Into the city for a stroll around the Hirshorn Gallery.  

Who have a talked to this week? My sweet bear. Ruth, Renee was back at water aerobics - I hadn't seen her for a few weeks - she fell the day before Thanksgiving landed on her face and broke her nose. Jon, Amy, Susan, Anna, Gabe, Max, Zack, and Mary. An editorial call, so Cathy, Emily, and others. 

What have I been reading? I have been on a reading binge. Medium Raw by Tony Bourdain, and a book on spoken language written by a professor of linguistics. Interesting facts, it takes more brain power to talk than to listen. Dogs learn to recognize words and symbols, but can not be trained to use them.  

What have I been writing? I finished an article on the importance of visiting people who are seriously ill, and hope to finish an article on travel planning. I committed to writing a fourth article before we leave for this year's grand adventure. 

My greatest Wish for each of you? A gentle and peaceful Christmas and Holiday Season. 

Travel Tuesday: Christmas Past

In a departure from exclusively posting photos I have taken, this post is entirely photos others have taken. All but one of these, is a scan from the over 1,600 slides my father collected over 60 years. 

My father, probably 1972. 

Before I was born. 

My two brothers, my sister, my aunt Edith and grandmother. 

My oldest brother.

My two brothers, long before my sister and I were born.

My sister and my middle brother.

The four of us. On the right hand corner of the top of the television is a tiny santa, I have that - at the last minute I plucked it out of the china cabinet at my father's house as we were turning the contents over to an estate sale company. I didn't realize until I scanned this slide, that it has been around as long as I have. 

Mom with a new hair dryer. The white artificial tree was bought the winter we lived in Phoenix, and put up many years. It was my father's favorite. 

On South Mountain in Phoenix the winter we lived there. 

My aunt Edith and my Mother, probably 1948 or 1949. 

My parents owned that end table all of their married life. When we cleaned out the house, no one wanted it. 

I have a couple of the ornaments that were on this tree 

Aunt Edith and my Grandmother 

My father and my oldest brother.

My mother, grandmother, Emma and Bill Baker in the first little house my father built on the farm. 

 

Monday Mood: Hanging on

I won't lie, it has been a challenging week to remain positive and upbeat. Senseless murders and TDS getting inside my head. Defiling of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It has been challenge keeping compassion from turning into depression.  It has been a difficult week, in what should be a season of hope. 

So what can we do? 

Be kind in what we say or do. If we are fortunate enough to live in a place that is safe and secure, acknowledge that many in the world are less fortunate. And really, isn't that what all but the truly deranged want in life and for the world, comfort, peace, safety and security? 

What else can I do this week?

• Find little ways to be helpful to others. 
• Random acts of kindness. 
• Send encouraging messages to friends and family. 
• Create beauty in any way I can. 
• Encourage others to be kind and peaceful.
• Speak out against hate. 
• VOTE, VOTE, VOTE. 

The holidays can be stressful. Hang on, take care of yourself, be extra kind. Hang on!  You may be the only person who can take care of you. 

I close most of my emails with the phrase "Take care."  And I truly mean it, take care of yourself, each and everyday. Be gentle as a lamb. 

 

The Sunday Five: Dancer and Prancer and Vixen

1: Do you dance in public? 

2: Will any holiday parties you attend this year include dancing? 

3: Tell us about the last time you danced in public?

4: Tell us about any dance classes you might have ever taken? 

5: Should it be illegal to dance at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC? 

My answers: 

1: Do you dance in public? Not in decades 

2: Will any holiday parties you attend this year include dancing? No

3: Tell us about the last time you danced in public? It would have been in Orlando before we moved north in 1995, at the Firestone Club on Orange Avenue. The crowd was always fun. 

4: Tell us about any dance classes you might have ever taken? I was a 4-H member as a teenager, and we had square dancing lessons one summer. 

5: Should it be illegal to dance at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC? It mystifies me as to why it is, the law is periodically protested and enforced. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: 50 States in 52 Weeks: Puerto Rico

Well we have moved past the 50 states, to a couple of territories to finish out the year. 

I went to Puerto Rico for work, an AARP training gig, at the Caribe Hilton on the water in San Juan. I have just a handful of photos, probably taken with my phone, though they might have been taken with an early digital camera.  The wind seemed to blow constantly when I was there, strong and noisy at times.  The hotel lobby was amazing, it was open on the water side and the street side, with the breezes blowing through. 

The people were welcoming and wonderful.  Most legal education materials in Puerto Rico are in English, the audience was strongly bilingual. For the question and answer part, there was a simultaneous translator, with an earpiece and all. The only time I have worked with a live translator in a training. 

I had little time to wander around, only a couple of hours. I really enjoyed it.  

When I lived in Orlando, a good part of my client base was from Puerto Rico, or as many described themselves, New Yoreakans, their family moved and they were born and raised in New York City.  

PR is a US territory or protectorate. A historic artifact. The people born there are US citizens, but self governing. Many, but not all, Federal laws and programs apply.  Items manufactured in Puerto Rico are considered US products, but the companies are not subject to US Corporate Tax - leading to the manufacture of high margin items such as pharmaceuticals and military hardware on the island.  

I would love to go back. 

Funky Friday: Walt Whitman and the National Portrait Gallery

Major parts of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, is housed buildings built in the early 1800's. Part of it was a post office, and the part pictured above housed the Patent Office. At the end of this corridor is the delightful three story space with galleries that housed the library of patent models. 

In the early 1860's, the post office and patent office packed away into storage, and the space was converted to a hospital for soldiers and sailors injured in the US Civil War.  There were an estimated 1.5 million people injured or got sick during the War, with about half of those dying. Disease killed as many, or more, than wounds. Tens of thousands of men spent weeks, months or years requiring medical care. 

Walt Whitman, an American poet of the era, volunteered in this hospital.  He spent months at bedside talking with the patients, reading to them, and helping them write letters home. He wrote about it in his journals, many of the patients wrote or spoke of the experience. 

It is clear from the writings, that his affection for some of the patients went beyond that of a kindly old author. One of nature's batchelors made some special friends while helping them recover from the war.

When I walk those halls, I sometimes think of the compassion and passion of the past in that sacred space.    

 

The Thursday Ramble: Alexandria City Hall

This photo was taken a couple of years ago, of city hall in Alexandria. Market Square, home to my local Saturday Morning Farmers Market surrounds the fountain. There has been a market on that space for over 250 years, it claims to the be oldest continuously operated farmers market in the country.  Parts of city hall, predate the Civil War, the state government was temporarily housed in it, when Virginia rejoined the Union after the Civil War (Richmond had burned in the war.)

Built during a remodel about 50 years ago, there is a two story underground parking garage under market square.  One of the best garages in the area and it owned by the city so it has some of the best prices. 

City Hall, Market Square and the garage, are closing in January for a major remodel. The building is in need of major utility and structural updates, the cast concrete beams in the garage are cracking, and replacing those beams is essential to holding up the plaza on the square. Estimates are two to three years for the work. 

The Market will be moving across the street to the west, into a courtyard square. City offices will be moving into temporary spaces around the city.  The city owns another garage, under the Court House a block away.    

My World Of Wonders - December 17, 2025

Where have I been this week? Into the City for lunch with a dear friend and a nice cold walk across town, the grocery store, an Aldi run. The pool, the treadmill. The library, Safeway and CVS Drugstore. 

How has the weather been? Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, a little snow, colder, and cold. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Beef and barley soup,  homemade chili with beans, roast pork tenderloin and a corn pudding, tortellini in broth - this is my spin on an Italian classic. I started by poaching a whole chicken, with onion, celery, carrots and spices. Then boned out the chicken and simmered the bones for two hours, strained the broth. I added back in some of the cooked chicken and a package of fresh (pre-made) tortellini to cook. I have about a liter of chicken stock and the two poached chicken breasts in the refrigerator to make something with later this week. 

What did I do that was unusual? I decided on Saturday I didn't want to do anything, and I did slightly less than that. 

Who have a talked to this week? My sweet bear. The gang at Water Aerobics, a board meeting from my old office, Erica, 

What is the exciting family news? My oldest nephew and his wife welcomed a baby boy to the family this week. I am now a great uncle times two. 

What is on the easel this week? I finished a self portrait, it is interesting, and I am nearly finished with a nighttime cityscape. 

What was the best thing I read this week? In a book titled "Think Like A Rocket Scientist",  a child asked to bricklayers what they were doing, the first one answered, "what a silly question, I am laying bricks one after another, after another." The second one responded, "I am building a magnificent cathedral that will bring awe and wonder for centuries." Frame your acts as a part of the big picture, be a part of something greater than the work at the moment. 

What is playing in the background? Michael Buble Christmas music on YouTube, in 8 days, I will be ready to change the channel for 11.5 months. 

Travel Tuesday: The Folger Shakespeare Library

Located behind the main building of the Library of Congress, is the Folger Shakespeare Library. In a nutshell, the Folger's were wealthy collectors, who started the collection and museum. It is independent, ie: not a part of the Smithsonian. I had never been there until a couple of weeks ago. Admission is free, a voluntary donation of $15 is encouraged. The reading room, is open for non-researchers on weekends,  I will be going back to see that.  

One of the worlds largest collections of the original bound folios of the works of William Shakespeare 

A delightful Elizabethan Theater 

The restaurant and coffee shop, they now serve afternoon tea. 

 

Monday Mood: What made me smile last week

What is going on here, a fisheye specialty lens bending reality at Mt Vernon.

It is a good life, I have lived well, and hope to live until I don't. 

Something I read: A young child asked two bricklayers what they were doing. The first one responded, "what a silly question, I am laying bricks." The second one answered, "I am building a magnificent cathedral that will inspire people for ages."  Be like the second mason.  

I was exercising in the deep end of the pool one afternoon. I could see down the long hallway of the art gallery space.  Twice in the 35 minutes I was in the water (I time myself) people walking down the corridor, suddenly stopped, turned and examined one of the works of art hanging on the wall.  I struggle with how to describe it, but that is why we create art, that is why we curate or organize shows, that is why we do this. The show is huge, 52 works by 22 artists, putting it together was a lot of work, but if it touches people who are passing by, it is worth it. Building something bigger than the bricks. 

A friend posted on social media this week, that she is in a new relationship with someone very special. It made me smile that she has found love and happiness. When you know, you know. Something bigger than the bricks. 

The Sunday Five: Holiday Plans

1: Are you planning anything special for the end of the year holidays? 

2: Are you traveling anyplace for the end of the year holidays? 

3: Is your gift shopping finished? 

4: Who will be cooking for your end of the year holidays? 

5: Have you thought about your goals for 2026? 

My answers: 

1: Are you planning anything special for the end of the year holidays? Quiet time with my sweet bear, here in our comfy nest. 

2: Are you traveling anyplace for the end of the year holidays? Thankfully, no. For years, family obligations turned the holidays into travel days. It is relaxing to stay home.  If my siblings want to join us for the holidays, I will be glad to cook.  US Highway 1 runs in both directions, from near my brother's front door, and our front gate. 

3: Is your gift shopping finished? By the time this posts, Yes. 

4: Who will be cooking for your end of the year holidays? I will. The plan is roast beef and Yorkshires for Christmas, and probably ham for New Year's. 

5: Have you thought about your goals for 2026? I have a couple of ideas floating around, it is time for me to start putting things on the screen. Near the end of the year, my results from 2025 and goals for 2026 will be a post. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States in 52 Weeks - Wyoming

Wyoming is one of the very large, almost rectangular states, north of Colorado and Utah, touching on the southern border of Idaho, with Montana above it. 

In August of 2023, I drove north from Denver to Cheyenne, spent the night and drove west nearly all the way across the state, turning north to go to Idaho and complete my pilgrimage to visit all 50 states. In an ideal world Wyoming would have been the last state for me to visit, because alphabetically it is the last state, but the routing just didn't work out. Wyoming was an add on to a work trip, meetings in Denver that I needed to attend. 

The Interstate Highway runs east to west in a nearly straight line, with a gentle roll in the landscape for well over 200 miles.  Going west I got off the main roads and drove the back roads to the south, through more mountains, climbing to over 10,000 feet in elevation.  It was spectacular. 

In a very desolate way, this is a very pretty part of the world. 

Glad I have been there, though I would be happy to return, I very much doubt that I will ever return. 

And that is 50 states, but there are 52 weeks, onto a territory and district to round out the year. 
 

Friday Curmudgeon: Who Edits this "Newspaper"?

There was a news story in the local newspaper, a major paper owned by one of the world's richest men recently that made the curmudgeon in me come out. It was a story about a murder that happened in Prince George's County, Maryland. 

The text of the article read in part as follows: 

Nader said it appears that the shooter knew the deceased, chased him down and shot him in the food court.

My comments on reading this: 

• Shooting the deceased was a little excessive, if he was the deceased, he was by definition already dead. 
• How do you chase a person who is deceased?
• Is it murder to shoot a person who is deceased?*
• What part of the body is the food court? 
• Is it painful to be shot in the food court? (Well not if you are already deceased.)  

Another passage read: 

Authorities said they think the attacker fled the scene with a car.**  

My Comments on reading this: 

• Did he steal a car?
• Was he carrying the car? 
• Pushing the car?
• Did he have a tow truck? 

Now I know my writing is not perfect. I also don't claim to be a professional journalist, I am not being paid by a billionaire to report the local news.  That being said, Yorkshire pudding would have edited this in about 30-seconds for clarity while retaining meaning. Hell, I could have edited this in about two minutes to mean what this person intended to say. A change of two or three words in these two sentences move this from being a bad joke, to a solid short news report. The article was only 250-300 words, it was not rocket science. Without editing it was compost. The only logical conclusion is that NO ONE is editing the newspaper. 

* Law students are torchered  tortured with that question every year. It is attempted murder if the shooter believed the person was alive when they shot them, even if the person was already deceased. 

** https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/03/shooting-mgm-national-harbor-hotel-casino-maryland/ 

The Thursday Ramble: Two Weeks before Christmas

Two weeks until Christmas, three weeks until the New Year, my how time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was seeing the early spring bloom. 

I often become very reflective at this time of the year, looking back at the year that has gone by, planning for the year ahead. 

2025 was a good year.  We lived well, and traveled comfortably.  I have done some good reading this year. I have become increasingly engaged in my community.  I have had some fun playing in the kitchen, exploring new arts and rediscovering arts from the very distant past. 

Highlights of the year? 

• Bermuda, Brugge, lunch with Duncan and Stephen, St. Andrews. Flying home first class. 
• Getting the top fixed on the little VW, and enjoying putting the roof down through the fall. 
• Getting to know the neighbors.  This one takes some effort.  A couple of years ago we started hosting a monthly LGBTQI+ gathering here at the condo.  We have made some dear friends through this. It does take some effort to remember to plan something, each month.  I have become very involved in the community Arts group, and through that have met more neighbors. 
• Lots and lots of long walks. Rediscovering the joy of going into the City and wandering a museum for an hour or two. 
• Getting back into the pool. This started with water aerobics, then some laps, and now deep water active movement.  I have even lost a little weight. 

Regrets for the year?

• I coulda, shouda, visited some family and friends. I intended to, and just didn't.  I have excuses. 
• Worrying about money, when I don't really didn't need to. Related to coulda, woulda, shouda.

Now to plan themes for the blog for 2026. 

• The Sunday Five has to continue by popular demand. It is a grind to keep coming up with questions.
• Monday Moods prompt me to do a check-up from the neck-up. 
• Tuesday Travels will continue
• My World of Wonders on Wednesdays
• I enjoy the Thursday Rambles, it gives me a place to write essays about whatever I am thinking about. 
• The freestyle Fridays will continue. 
• The Saturday Morning Post - looks like a series on creativity. The 50 states was fun, it is done, and in the end was probably the least popular theme day. Still I did it for me, to record the unimportant little things that shouldn't be forgotten. The challenge will be to sustain the creativity, but then that is one of the challenges of creativity.

My World of Wonders - Wednesday Ws - December 10, 2025

 Where have I been this week? Last Thursday I took the subway into the city for a long walk, including the Folger Shakespeare Library, and National Gallery of Art. Friday was spent installing an art gallery show, then in the evening bowling in the condo community center with our LGBT neighbors. Saturday morning was the monthly community coffee, and Saturday afternoon was the opening reception for the new art show. Sunday I went out to Mt Vernon for a walk in the cold. Tuesday evening we went into Old Town Alexandria to have dinner with an old friend. 

Who have I talked to this week? Wow, lots and lots of friends and neighbors.  

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Last Thursday I made Swiss Steak, Friday I made Pizza, Sunday beef stew and homemade bread. 

What have I been reading? Barbados the Island of the Yellow Bird by Ralfy Mitchell. I need to go to the library soon, very soon. 

Who did I reach out to? The daughter of one of my high school friends, I stumbled across a christmas photo of her from 28 years ago - scanned it an sent it to her.  She has had an eventful year, and sounds like she has found happiness.  

What else did I do? I mailed a dozen Christmas cards, the stack seems to get smaller each year. 

What is on the easel? A self Portrait, it is coming along and looks somewhat like me.  

What made me smile? I was exercising in the pool this afternoon, and there is a great view of the community Gallery from there. Two people walking down the hall, stopped suddenly to examine art on the wall. Mission accomplished if someone noticed. 

Travel Tuesday: Adventures in My Neighborhood

A Clever Sheep at Mt Vernon 

The old Main Drive at Mt Vernon 

Ms. Fox at Mt Vernon 

Aladdin the Camel is spending Christmas at Mt Vernon.  His keeper, replaced all of the doors in my condo shortly after I bought it. 

Stay Away!

Good to see the youngins are playing safe.

A Stream through a nearby park.

Nice Bike Racks at a local park 

Behind the Building, updated steps.