An Exciting Day

What made yesterday so exciting? Did I see a wonderful new exhibit? Take a tour? No, my library card came in the mail! I love going to the library. There's one just a couple of blocks away. Guess where I'm going later this afternoon?

That "Putting the world within reach" had me looking for a little poem I've seen about libraries:

I've traveled the world twice over,

Met the famous; saints and sinners,

Poets and artists, kings and queens,

Old stars and hopeful beginners,

I've been where no-one's been before,

Learned secrets from writers and cooks

All with one library ticket

To the wonderful world of books.

~ Anonymous ~

I also found this quote:

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. ~Jorge Luis Borges

A couple more about books and reading:

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.  ~Author Unknown

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.  ~Chinese Proverb

Had enough?  Here's the last one:

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be -

I had a mother who read to me.

~Strickland Gillilan

Thanks Mom!

Opera in the Outfield

On Saturday, The Kennedy Center held their annual open house. They were offering free short performances of all different types throughout the day. We caught parts of a few of them. I was wanting to see one of the ballet ones that was starting just a few minutes after we got there, but the theatre was already full. And, the line was already out the door for the next one which wasn't starting until 2 hours later! I didn't see any ballet. We did get to walk around the center which is very beautiful. This 8-ft. bronze bust of John F. Kennedy sits in the Grand Foyer.

We also walked around outside the theatre. There is a terrace that faces the Potomac with beautiful views of Georgetown and The National Cathedral. There are also several sculptures scattered throughout. This one of Don Quixote was a gift from Madrid's Institute of Hispanic Culture that was presented when King Juan Carlos I visited during our bicentennial.

Later that night we attended the Washington National Opera's season opening performance of  Verdi's La Traviata. It was simulcast live at Washington Nationals Stadium on the scoreboard (and it was free!). We grabbed our lawn chairs and set up right behind 3rd base. I have no idea how many people attended, but there were literally thousands of people there. It was an absolutely wonderful performance. I know it's not the same as being there, but one thing I really like is that the camera does close-ups from angles that I wouldn't see if I were attending in person. Of course, it is a little strange to smell hot dogs, nachos and popcorn during the opera.

Some More Memorials

Another beautiful day yesterday, so I went to look at a few more memorials.

Here are some pictures of/from the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial

Statue of Lincoln

Was lucky to get this without anyone standing in the way

From the Lincoln Memorial looking across the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument.

A few pics of the Korean War Veterans Memorial:

One of 19 soldiers

A view from the side

Wall of faces

As I was walking back toward the Washington Monument from the Korean War Memorial I found this tucked in among the trees. It's the District of Columbia War Memorial. It commemorates the citizens of DC who served in World War I. Had never heard of it before.

And, a memorial dedicated to John Paul Jones:

World War II Memorial and Washington Monument

The weather was so beautiful on Wednesday, that I decided I should be outdoors and headed for The National Mall. It's a great place to people watch. It was around lunch time and there were lots of people sight-seeing, strolling, power-walking, jogging, sitting on benches eating their lunch and just sitting on the grass soaking up the sun.

I hadn't been to any of the monuments or memorials yet and figured it was the perfect day for it.

Here are some pics from the World War II Memorial.

Looking through the WWII Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial

One of the entrances

One of 24 different bronze bas-relief panels

A pillar for every state and territory

Looking across

And, a few of/from the Washington Monument.

The Washington Monument

A statue of George inside the monument

The tile floor in front of the elevator

Facing north: The White House

Standing at a corner and looking up

This made me very dizzy!

Finally, A Place to Sew

Wow! Has it really been a whole week since I last posted? Where has the time gone?

Rich was in San Diego last week. Instead of sight-seeing I did a little driving around to get my bearings. I needed to find a good grocery store. The nearest one to the apartment is about a half mile walk. That's not too bad, but it's really more of a cross between a grocery store and a convenience store. Higher prices, smaller selection. There are five checkstands, four of which say, "15 items or less" over them. I have never seen a cashier at the fifth register. It's great when you just need a couple of things, but not the kind of place I want to do my weekly shopping. So, I spent a couple of days looking for things we were needing (not just groceries, other things too).

The next thing I'm going to need to find (and soon) is a place to get my hair cut. That could be a little tricky. There's a place close by that is listed on the 'net as being "moderately priced" and they charge $55 for a shampoo/cut/style. Ouch! I usually get my hair trimmed every 3-4 weeks. I'm still looking.

I've been doing some hand appliqué in the evenings and have finished another block from Thru Grandmother's Window. This makes number eight. You can see them all here.

I finally have my sewing machine set up! When I was in Long Beach at the quilt festival, I ordered a SewEzi table knowing that I didn't have a place to set up my machine at the apartment. Rich had already seen the apartment and knew that I wouldn't be able to use the dining room table. It's a round piece of glass that sits on a pedestal. Just leaning on it with both arms while reading the paper makes the glass flip up on the opposite side. Definitely wouldn't support a sewing machine.

So, it got here last week and was a real snap to put together. Here it is all set up with my sewing machine:

But wait! Now, it's a cutting table:

And there's more! Now, it's a light box:

And, when I have company, it folds up flat and will fit under the bed very nicely in its own carrying case.

Egg-cellent!

We went to breakfast yesterday at Eggspectation. They have a fun circus decor as their theme is "Les Cirques des Oeufs." They serve lots of things besides eggs, but they have more egg dishes on their menu than any other restaurant I've ever been to. I had an omelette, Rich had eggs benedict and Marcus had Eggwhat?, a signature dish. We all enjoyed our food, but the service wasn't so great.

Can you think of better door handles than these for a restaurant that serves lots and lots of eggs?

NSO Labor Day Concert

The National Symphony Orchestra held their annual Labor Day Concert on Sunday night on the west lawn of the Capitol Building. The event is free and is made possible by a grant from the US Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. They even handed out free water! We got there around 7:15pm and knowing that the concert started at 8pm , I thought we might have trouble finding a spot to set up our chairs. But no worries, there was plenty of room. This first picture was taken from about halfway between the stage and the end of the lawn area.

They played about 20 different selections starting out with the Star-Spangled Banner and finishing with Stars and Stripes Forever. Is that a requirement for outdoor concerts? My friend Anna, Kristina and I went to an outdoor concert by the Albuquerque Concert Band three weeks back and their concert started and ended with the same selections. They also played a lot of "fun" selections like Merrie Melodies, Seventy-Six Trombones, a medley of songs from South Pacific, the Theme from Jaws, The Chamber of Secrets, and Raiders of The Lost Ark.

As we were leaving I snapped this pic of the Capitol Building. I didn't think I'd get such a good nighttime pic. Getting out at the end of the concert was so easy. We folded up our chairs, walked to the Metro and we were home in no time. 

Mount Vernon

On Sunday, we went to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. If you go, get there early and plan on spending most of your day there. There is so much to see and do! We didn't get to see everything that we wanted to, but Rich and I bought annual passes (at a cost of two admissions, it is definitely worth it) and plan on returning. 

We toured the mansion, some of the outer buildings, walked through the upper and lower gardens, and saw his tomb. We also went through the Museum and Education Center. But, there is so much more! The pictures are of Rich and I in front of the mansion (great pic by Marcus) and  the piazza at the back of the mansion which extends the full length of the mansion and has a wonderful view of the Potomac. 

These last two pics are of the Spinning House. There are a lot of outer buildings - Slave Quarters, The Little Theater, Salt House, Gardener's House, Servants' Hall, Kitchen, Smoke House, Wash House, Coach House, Stable, Dung Repository and Greenhouse. We didn't even make it over to the Pioneer Farmer Site. And then just a short drive away is George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill.

There are special events that take place throughout the year. There's going to be an 18-Century Craft Fair in two weeks. Think I can talk Rich into going back so soon?

Do You Recognize These Stairs?

Marcus has become an avid bicyclist the past year. He bikes everywhere. So that he could get around and see more things he rented a bike on Saturday and rode all around DC.

We met him in Georgetown for lunch. Are you a movie buff? Do you recognize these stairs? I didn't because I've never seen the movie. The 75 steps are equivalent to a five-story building. I didn't climb them. Maybe another time. Maybe not. Highlight this space: The Exorcist to find out the name of the movie.

A Few Exhibits

Marcus came up from Orlando for a visit over Labor Day Weekend! We hit a couple of exhibits and walked around the mall on Friday while Rich was at work.

Our first stop was the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit at the International Gallery. Are you young enough to have watched Sesame Street as a kid? Are you old enough that you had kids who watched Sesame Street? Both? Did I cover most everybody? Remember The Muppet Show? If this exhibit is coming 'round to your corner of the world, it's a must see. Besides the things you'd expect - TV and movie props, muppets and the like - there is also a lot of his original artwork - drawings, cartoons and storyboards. No pictures allowed, so here's a picture of The Jim Henson Memorial located at the University of Maryland courtesy of zhurnaly.

Our next stop was the National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery is actually two buildings. There is so much to see that we just picked a couple of the special exhibits to concentrate on. Otherwise, I think you could spend an entire day there. Maybe several. I'll probably go back and see it in stages. The first exhibit we hit was Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.  The amazing part of this collection is that most of it was thought to have been stolen or destroyed during the many years of conflict that this country has suffered. The items were recovered in 2004 from bank vaults in the presidential palace.

We also saw an exhibit by sculptor Martin Puryear. He is a minimalist who uses wood, stone, wire and tar in his works. I have to say that I love his pieces for the craftsmanship that went into making them as much as for the "art" of them.

The last exhibit was Richard Misrach: On the Beach. These beautiful color photographs were taken from a hotel room looking down on a beach in Hawaii. In many of them you see only one or a handful of people in a great expanse of water. No sand, no sky. Just people swimming or floating in very deep blue (but clear) water. Very tranquil. You can see all of the photographs here by clicking on the little vertical marks at the bottom of the page.


We did pass through a few other galleries before deciding that we had already spent a couple of hours and had barely scratched the surface. So, we headed outside to walk around the mall a bit. It was raining very lightly at first. As we walked on, the umbrellas came out. These geese didn't seem to mind the rain one bit though.