Memorial Day Parade

Did you know that I like parades? No? How did you miss it? I mentioned it in this post, this post, this post and this post. But you know what? Rich doesn't like parades all that much. He only goes along to humor me. I love that about him.

But today, he wasn't budging. His back was bothering him and there was no way he was going to sit on a curb and watch a parade just to humor me. Sigh. I guess I really can't blame him. But, I wasn't going to miss it. I'm only here for a year and I'm on a mission to get to as many places and see as many things as I can. And that includes parades.

Besides all the usual military marching groups you'd expect to see in a Memorial Day parade, I liked all the reenactment groups that were in this one. I especially liked this Civil War group. There were a lot of women in period costume following them, but they were a little spread out and I couldn't get a good picture.

 There were also a gazillion high school bands. I almost missed this one and barely got the picture snapped. I can't believe it! This is the high school that my oldest son graduated from! He was even a part of this band! It was a nice surprise to see them in the parade.

Bagpipes are always fun. I love listening to them. Well, when they're performing as a large group anyway. We once had a neighbor who used to practice out in his backyard every day after work. He wasn't so much fun to listen to.

NSO Memorial Day Concert

 

For the past 20 years the National Memorial Day Concert has been broadcast on PBS to honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. Each year more than 300,000 people attend the concert on the U. S. Capitol west lawn.

 Rich and I took our lawn chairs and found a nice, grassy area to sit and watch the concert. When we sat down there was hardly anyone there. By the time the concert started, it was wall-to-wall people.

The concert was hosted by actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna and along with a slew of well-known stars and personalities featured the National Symphony Orchestra, The U. S. Army Chorus, The U. S. Army Ceremonial Band, The U. S. Army Herald Trumpets, The U. S. Navy Band Sea Chanters, The Soldiers' Chorus of the U. S. Army Field Band and maybe some others that I forgot. I don't usually watch the concert on PBS when it's televised, but it was nice to be here and remember what Memorial Day is really about.

Rolling Thunder

I've heard of Rolling Thunder, but had never actually seen one of their demonstration rides. At noon Rich and I were sitting on Memorial Bridge when the first riders turned onto the bridge going toward the Lincoln Memorial. I have no idea how many motorcyclists there were. Tens of thousands?

Rolling Thunder is dedicated to helping American veterans from all wars. They have over 90 chapters across the country. I always thought you had to be a veteran to be a member, but you don't. You do have to be dedicated to their cause. You have to be willing to volunteer your time. And, you must be present in Washington, DC on Memorial Day weekend.

You don't have to have a motorcycle to participate. But I think it would be a lot more fun if you did.

We watched for 45 minutes. I don't know how much longer it went on, but I'd bet it was a couple of hours. I think our ears will be ringing the rest of the day. If I ever get to see them again, I'll remember to bring ear plugs.

Another Nats Game!

After resting up from our morning adventure, Rich decided he wanted to go see the Nationals play the Baltimore Orioles. It was kind of a last minute decision, but we find that we can do things like that so much easier here since we hardly drive anywhere. While we have to allow time for getting to/from the metro stations and walking to our destination, we don't have to worry about traffic and looking for parking. 

I got pictures of Rich with all the presidents. Here he is with George.

You know my favorite part of the game - the 4th inning presidents race! Look at the lead Teddy has! Could this be the night he finally wins? With a lead like this how could he possibly lose?

Wouldn't you know it. Just 10 yards before the finish line the Baltimore Orioles mascot jumps out of nowhere and tackles poor Teddy. And even has the audacity to do a celebratory dance too! I forget who won the race.

Heh, heh. Teddy got his revenge. While he always has that big, goofy grin, standing there next to the oriole down on the ground that grin takes on a very mischievous quality. Not very presidential, but so, so funny.

And, while the Nats didn't win, it was a very close game. They lost 2-1. 

Take Me to the River

Memorial Day Weekend. Beautiful weather. What to do, what to do. Well, we decided to go kayaking on the Potomac. We got up early and were at Thompson Boat Center within minutes of opening. We got outfitted and were on the water in no time. After we were out on the water we realized that it's kind of impossible to get a picture of us in the kayak since we're both, uh, in the kayak. And, when we returned we didn't think to ask one of the employees to get a picture of us because the line to rent kayaks was way out the building and they were just a tad busy. The great part about starting so early (besides not having to wait in line) was that there were hardly any boats out so the water was still relatively smooth. It's a river, so the water is moving, but it wasn't choppy from lots of boats.

We headed south a bit and had this view of The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

There's an island in the middle of the Potomac between DC and Arlington. It's the Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial. We haven't been there yet. It's supposed to have some nice hiking trails. We're running out of time here, but I hope to get there. Anyway, this picture of the other people out rowing was taken between the island and Arlington. We're heading back north now.

This the Key Bridge that goes from Arlington across the Potomac to Georgetown. After this we continued around the island and back to the boat center. It took us a little more than an hour and since kayaking isn't something I do everyday that was plenty. I probably won't be able to use my arms tomorrow.

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

This Happy Hauntings block went together very quickly. It's a little difficult to see the green bubbles against the busy background, but I think they'll show up better after the embroidery for this block is done. It's hard to explain but there'll be wavy lines coming up from the pot around the bubbles. I haven't even decided what block to work on next. I usually prep two or three blocks at a time. I've been so busy running around lately with visitors and all that I haven't looked ahead. Guess I'd better go get to it.

The Boss!

Rich and I went to see Bruce Springsteen at the Verizon Center! From the picture you can see that our seats were up and behind the stage a bit. That's okay. We were happy to have gotten tickets. You see, the concert sold out in 17 minutes. Last time we saw Bruce was 24 years ago at the Dallas Cotton Bowl Stadium for his Born in the USA tour. We had 9th row center seats. It was awesome. To get those seats we camped out all night and slept on a sidewalk. I was pregnant.

This time was different. They don't want people camping out for days ahead to get tickets to concerts. So, what they did was everyone who was standing in line at 8:00am (tickets went on sale at 9am) were brought inside the building. They did a head count and put that many tickets in a bucket and then went around and had you draw a ticket. That determined your place in line at 9am. If you came after 8am you had to get in line behind those who got a randomly selected ticket (although your chances of actually making it to the window in time to get tickets to the concert were practically nil). I got number 37.  It took 12 minutes to get up to the window. Meanwhile tickets were being sold online and over the phone as well. Yeah, we were lucky to get tickets.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band still put on a heckuva show.

Do What You Wanna Do

We took Marcus and his friends to dinner at a restaurant we just recently discovered. Maybe I'll write about it sometime. We really like this restaurant and will probably go back, but this post isn't about the restaurant. It's about the building across the street:

I usually make the pictures on my blog small (you can always click on them to make them bigger), but I really wanted you to see what was happening in this one. So, here we are on Pennsylvania Ave. This is the Mexican Embassy. I couldn't find any info about the building but I'm guessing the row houses are historic in some way and couldn't be torn down. What do you do? Do you add on in a way so as to maintain the historic look of the buildings you're surrounding? Nah, why the heck would you wanna do that?

Tidal Basin Paddle Boats

Marcus and his friends participated in a bicycling event today. While they were out doing that, Rich and I went to the Tidal Basin and paddled around in the paddle boats. I think our boat must have been made for 8-year olds. The pedals were so close to the seats that I couldn't straighten my legs while I paddled.  I think Rich probably felt like he was on a little kid's tricycle. But, the weather was nice and we paddled around lazily for about an hour. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I think this would really be a lot of fun when the cherry blossoms are in bloom!

Sculpture Garden

While we were in Florida, Marcus and his friends spent a couple of days sight-seeing in DC and then continued their road trip up to New York City. They're back to spend a few more days in DC before going back to Florida.

Marcus and I did some walking around while his friends were checking out museums. I hadn't walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden yet. It was a beautiful day and there were a ton of people out.

I love the illusionistic qualities of this. It's House I by Roy Lichtenstein. While the side of the house looks like it projects out toward you, it actually recedes.

When I see this, I wonder how many people younger than, oh, say 35, even know what it is.

Birds and Apples

Even with all of the activity the past couple of weeks, I've been able to find little bits of time here and there to get another Happy Hauntings block done. The birds' feet will be embroidered later. This has been a fun project to work on.

Out on the Prairie

When I think of Florida I think beaches, sunshine, humidity. I don't think prairies. Kristina took us on a walk along La Chua Trail in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Prairies in Florida? Who knew?

I love the spanish moss hanging from this tree.

This is Lake Wauberg. Isn't it beautiful?

Take a closer look. There were quite a few gators out and about.

I don't know what kind of birds these are, but they blended in with the marsh so well I almost missed them. 

I almost missed this guy too.

I love the depth of field in this shot. It was completely by accident. Whenever I try to do this on purpose it never comes out. I hope to figure it out one day.

I've seen so few wild turkeys in my life. I'm always surprised at how small they are. Not like Thanksgiving turkeys at all. 

Kristina's Got Wheels!

I told you it was going to be a busy week with people coming and going. Rich got home Thursday night. Marcus and two of his friends drove up from Florida and also arrived Thursday night. That's a lot of people in a small two bedroom apartment. But it was only for one night. Friday morning, Kristina, Aline, Rich and I all flew down to Tampa. We went down for a long weekend to help Kristina get this:

She can quit bumming rides now.

Run Teddy, Run!

Kristina's friend, Aline, flew in yesterday. They got a lot of sight-seeing in yesterday afternoon but this morning they weren't quite sure what they wanted to do. I found out from the Let Teddy Win blog that the Nationals were playing. And it was free t-shirt Tuesday. And that friends of Teddy (I guess people who subscribe to the blog) could get half price tickets! Being May 5th, the t-shirts had a Cinco de Mayo theme with a picture of Teddy wearing a sombrero and the caption "¡Corre Teddy, Corre!" Even Screech got into it with a sombrero and serape.

The president mascots have been racing around the outfield during home games since 2006 and Teddy has never won. Ever. Hence the blog. You can see from this picture that he didn't win today either. I guess that sombrero he's wearing really slowed him down.

Oh, the Nats were playing the Houston Astros. The game was tied in the 11th inning when it had to be suspended on account of rain. They'll finish the game in July when the Nats travel to Houston.

Cinco de Mayo Festival

Rich left early this morning and will be gone most of the week. It's going to be pretty busy around here with people coming and going, but for today Kristina and I were looking forward to attending the National Cinco de Mayo Festival at the Mall. Except it was raining. We kind of hung around the apartment for a while waiting to see if it was going to clear up. When it looked like it would maybe let up for a little bit we grabbed our umbrellas and went.

The Maru Montero Dance Company performed a lot of different numbers at the Sylvan Theatre which is an outdoor stage by the Washington Monument. I was surprised at how well the dancers kept right on dancing even though it was raining, pretty heavily at times too. I got to see La Bamba which is always one of my favorites. Even though the stage had pools of water in places, the dancers still made their bow. If you've never seen this performed, a long red sash is unwound from around the man's waist and placed on the ground. The dancers manipulate it with their feet and at the end of the number it's picked up and should hold together in a bow. I can't imagine how hard it was to do in puddles of water.

Between numbers this guy had a pretty big job to do:

They were really great to watch, but we didn't stay all that long as it kept right on raining. There were tents set up for food and activities, but since there weren't that many people there, they were closing down. This is more than half of the spectators:

It was pretty disappointing as I could tell that it would ordinarily be a really fun festival. 

G'Day Mate!

Cultural Tourism DC is a non-profit that helps to strengthen and showcase the heritage and arts programs that DC has to offer. Every year they sponsor an event called Passport DC. This is a week long event with many activities going on. I think it's probably impossible to get to all or even most of them. What I was looking forward to was the Embassy Open House where many of the embassies open their doors to showcase their country's art, music, culture, dance and food. Because lines are long, you can't expect to make it to very many of the embassies so we didn't even try.

After checking out the sawdust carpets we jumped on the metro and headed toward the Australian embassy. The line stretched out the door and about two blocks down the street. People were being allowed in only as other people left. The line moved slowly but steadily. Once inside and through security, there was a man from one of the aboriginal tribes telling us a little bit about the history of the native peoples there. He also gave an awesome demonstration of the didgeridoo. We listened to him for about 10 minutes before moving on.

From there a line formed where you could pick up some tourism brochures and information about work visa programs. Also, you could sample some foods and wine from Australia. It really was a lot of fun. I sure hope I get to visit one day.

We thought we might have time to take in another embassy or two, but after standing in line for so long we didn't even try. We maybe could have made it into another one, but decided to go grab a bite to eat instead.

I think if we lived here in DC permanently I would try to check out two or three every year. It would be fun to attend some of the other events as well as they have dance and art programs throughout the week.

Sawdust Carpets

One of the really wonderful things about living here are the interesting things that are happening right around the corner. Literally. Kristina flew in yesterday and we decided to check out the Australian embassy as part of Passport DC (more on this later). Just two blocks from the apartment and on the way to the metro, I'd read that there were going to be two different groups making sawdust carpets. One from Guatemala and the other from Germany. They were to start around 8 in the morning and be finished around 5 in the evening. At the end of the day they just sweep up their work. I didn't know anything about sawdust carpets (and still don't know much), but thought it would be interesting to stop by and check out their progress early in the day, and maybe catch them later on our way back if it wasn't too late.

So, what are sawdust carpets? Well, basically you buy a whole lot of sawdust. You dye it. You choose your design. It looked to me like there were two different methods here. With the German method you draw a grid over your design. You draw a huge grid on the ground and then fill it in using your design grid. The Guatemalan method looked like they used a kind of stencil to fill in their border designs. I'm not sure how they did the central part of the design. With both methods the sawdust is put down by hand. Many artists will work on a sawdust carpet in order to complete it in a matter of hours.

In both instances, sawdust carpets are usually made for religious ceremonies. They will cover the streets as a processional carpet. They are destroyed as the celebrants walk on them and then swept up at the end of the day.

More Blocks Done

I haven't done a lot of piecing since I've been here. I just can't seem to get set up in a way that I'm comfortable. When I came out here I was in the middle of 5 BOM projects. Four are pieced and one is hand appliqué (the Thru Grandmother's Window blocks that are all complete, even if the quilt is not). The past couple of weeks I went through each BOM one at a time and cut all the pieces for the remaining squares. Since my sewing table doubles as my cutting table, I'm hoping that by doing this I'll be able to spend a lot more time piecing now and a lot less time converting back and forth.

It seems to be working. The past couple of days I've finished the last blocks for a BOM called Woven Ribbons. There are two of each of these 9" blocks:

Even though all the blocks are now done (there are a total of 18, I'll post a picture of all of them together at a later time), I won't be able to finish this one for a bit. The pattern comes from the book Better by the Dozen by Susan Teegarden Dissmore. The pieced sashing is a little involved and I don't yet have fabric for it. It's a long story that I won't go into here. Let's just say that I'm not happy with my LQS for abandoning this BOM before it was all complete.