A Morning Mall Walk

It was such a nice day today I decided to walk a little around the Mall this morning.

More from My Morning Mall Walk

The National Gallery of Art

A view of the Washington Monument

Some bird cleaning up

Marines out for their morning jog

The carousel by the Smithsonian Castle

Getting Ready for Halloween

I was down at the Home Depot over the weekend and this is what I saw. I don't think I've ever seen so many decorations out for Halloween. Most of this is not something you put on a door or window but something you would put out in your yard.

I guess Halloween is trying to make a run on Christmas in the decorations department. Halloween has a ways to go yet but this is a good start.

The Leaning Wall

I came home from a quick trip to the store one night recently and noticed something odd about the retaining wall in my front yard. It was leaning. It had also broken away from the side. Not a good thing to say the least.

I panicked a bit. I was afraid that the whole damn thing might collapse at any minute. I know that’s a little over the top. Who knows how long its been like that. But I was concerned. You can get a sense of it from the pictures below.

I’m sure this happened due to all the bad weather we’ve had this year (I would say that the vast of majority of days have been lousy so far this year but that’s for another post).

I made some calls to see if I could get someone to come out and take a look at it. One of the people I talked to said lots of people were calling about similar problems and the weather was the reason. Not only the bad winter but all the rain the DC region has had over the past few weeks.

The first guy showed up this morning. He said he didn’t think it was going to collapse (a relief to me). He said if it was his he would patch it and see how long the patch would hold as opposed to rebuilding the wall. He couldn’t promise how long the patch would last. It could crack in six months or maybe several years. The thing was to watch and see what happens over time. He said he would give me estimates for patching the all and building a new one.

I have someone else coming out on Friday.

The wrinkle in all of this is that I share the front yard with my neighbor and thus I share the wall with them too. I wrote them a note (I’ve been a bad neighbor they’ve lived there for over a year and I’ve never introduced myself but then again neither have they) saying what was going on. Adding we should try and talk about this. The thing is it makes no sense to repair my side of the wall if the other side (which is on their property) isn’t fixed as well.

Sheherazade, Bolero and more at Strathmore

My friend Mark and I went to the Strathmore Music Center on Saturday to hear Sheherazade, Bolero and Gloria for Soprano, Chorus and Orchestra.

From their web site:

Located one-half mile outside the Capital Beltway in North Bethesda, Maryland, Strathmore provides affordable, accessible, multi-disciplinary arts programming in the Mansion at Strathmore, the Music Center at Strathmore, and on its scenic 11-acre site.

Founded and operated since 1981 by the Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc., an independent, 501(c)(3) organization, the arts center presents a lively and diverse program of art exhibitions, concerts and performing arts programs, and literary lectures and events.

High quality arts programming, designed for audiences of many tastes, served with the hospitality and warmth of a family enterprise, are the hallmarks of Strathmore. Seasonal outdoor events seek to be inclusive in their programming appeal, reaching out to people of all ages, interests and cultural heritage.

I’ve never heard either piece performed live and it was a treat. Especially since Sheherazade is one of my favorite classical pieces and has a story as to why it is. More on that a little later.

Bolero starts out with only a few pieces of the orchestra playing. It was interesting to not only hear but see as additional instruments joined in. Violins are plucked in the opening part but not all the violins. Slowly but surely more and more of them join in. Then the viola. Then the cello. Then the bass cello. Just fantastic to watch.

Then there was. I enjoyed part of it especially the last part of the work.

After the intermission came Sheherazade. Here’s my story about it.

In fourth grade music class, as least I think that’s what it was, the class listened to Sheherazade. The class was then supposed to draw a picture about the story. Now it could have been an art class but I don’t think so because I distinctly remember listening to the music. I also know the story was read to us. Of course back then the music teacher would bring in the record player on one of those audio visual carts. The record player would have been one of those square box players with a lid with a latch on it. It would play 78, 45 and 33 records. I don’t remember ever hearing a 78 on it but I do remember hearing 33s and 45s. My “picture” and I use that in the loosest terms possible was of Sinbad’s ship. I think about the only thing I got right was the sail on the boat.

The music stayed with me. It is one of my favorite classical pieces. It was such a joy and wonder to get to hear the piece live. It was also great to see what instruments in the orchestra were used and where they came in in each part of the work.

A fantastic way to spend a Saturday night.

Here's a small part of Sheherazade.





More of the incredible Strathmore hall.

A Light Snow

Snow lightly falling
Drifting falling
Falling
Falling
Falling

That's what was going through my head Saturday evening when DC had a light dusting of snow. I'm not sure where the above is from. Probably an introduction to some Christmas song. But as you can see it was lightly falling on Saturday.

Trying to Return to Thoughts Political

My plan had been to do that with Obama’s acceptance speech last week. I’ve been avoiding posting on politics because it would end up being a diatribe against the Republicans. I have to say I’m just a little fed up with everything that’s going on. Also the political ads have started running here and I’m tired of them already. I think the new voice over in the ads should be I’m (politician or super pack name) and I approved this lie.

I’d also planned to go spinning last Friday morning. Now you may wonder how these two very different things are tied together. Well here’s how. I decided before Obama’s speech started I would get ready for my spinning class Friday morning. Got my gear together put it in my backpack. I filled my water bottle a quarter of the way with water. I was then going to put it in the freezer. In the morning take it out and fill the rest of it with water.

I opened the freezer door to find water dripping down from the inside top of it. Most all of the items in the shelves on the door had melted. The frozen vegetables were sort of less than completely frozen. The things in the actual refrigerator were barely cold.

I was a little less than pleased with this. (But I figured out it was around 14 years old.) I threw out most of what was in the frig. The vegies went too. But there was no way I was going to throw out all the chicken I had in the freezer. Giant had had a big sale the previous week so I’d stocked up. I decided to pull the frig out from where it was. I ended up putting in the middle of the kitchen with the back of it facing into my dinning room. I then got a fan, turned it on and pointed it to where the compressor. This is what happened to my dad’s frig. The fan that cooled the compressor was giving out and that caused the frig to to warm. I figured it was worth a try. I hoped for the best and went to bed.

In the morning the frig was “fine.” The freezer was freezing and even the frig was cool. This of course was not a long term solution but I hope would work until I got a new one.

I did some research on-line to figure out where to go. I also figured out that I had to get a 18.2 cubic foot size. Anything larger wouldn’t fit in the space I had. I got up eraly on Friday and went down to Home Depot to see what they had. The answer was not much. They also were expensive. I went back to my house and did some more research. I found a model I liked at Sears. Headed out to Sears. They were busy. There were a couple people in front of me who ended up buying refrigerators too. My time finally came. I got a Kenmore. In fact it is essentially the same model I had. This time no ice maker since I don’t have an easy way of hooking it up.

I was told it would come on Wednesday. And on Wednesday there it was. Charlie and Linus enjoyed where I’d moved the old one since they could get up on the top. They were not as pleased when I got the new one. I really like it. It is quiter than the old one. There’s also a lot more space in the freezer without the ice maker. The chicken stayed frozen so all’s well etc etc.

Linus enjoying himself resting on top of the old frig.

A Trip to Annapolis

Stu and I went on a trip to Annapolis on Friday. We had nice weather for most of the day. It was little cloudy for the first half of the day. Slowly it cleared and slowly the temperature warmed up. Just about as perfect a day as you could have. We visited the state capitol, went for a boar ride, had a great lunch, walked around the Naval Academy, had some ice cream and then just wandered around for little while.

Walking up the street to the state capitol

The view from the front steps of the capitol

Stu talking things over with General Washington

For a brief period Annapolis served as the Capital of the United States from 1783-1784. Washington officially resigned his commission here and the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was signed in the same room.

On the Severn River

We had a leisurely walk down to the dock in the Annapolis Harbor and got our tickets for our boat ride on the Harbor Queen. This is 45 minute tour in and around Annapolis. It takes you by the Naval Academy. It had gotten a little sunnier by now. Not too hot and there was a very refreshing breeze.

All sorts of boats in all shapes and sizes in the harbor.

View of the state capitol from the boat.

The Wheel House of the Harbor Queen

Stu on the deck of the Harbor Queen

More Views from the Harbor Queen

Some additional views of Annapolis from the deck of the Harbor Queen.

The grounds of the Naval Academy

The grounds of the Naval Academy with the dome of the Naval Chapel

All sorts of boats out enjoying the great weather.

On the Grounds of the Naval Academy

We had lunch after the boat trip. I had a salmon BLT. It was great. Then we walked over to the ground of the Naval Academy.