The Joys of a Summer Cold

Auuugh!!!!

To borrow a phrase from Peanuts. I have a summer cold. I hate colds in general but the summer cold is the worst. You feel crappy enough at it is. But you have the added fun of trying to keep warm while at the same time being in air conditioning because the weather is hot outside.

Sort of a no win situation.

And I have to say I do sort of feel the way the guy in the picture above looks. What I hate the most is bending down to pick something up and feeling like my head is going to explode.

No job hunting for me today. I see Netflix or maybe a good read or most likely a really long nap. Getting up only to eat.

I just hope that it's gone by the weekend.

A Lazy Afternoon for Linus and Charlie

What better way to spend the afternoon than perched on top of a wardrobe. Charlie and Linus have this one down pat.

A Trip to Greenbelt Park

This neat park is tucked away in Greenbelt. And it's a pretty good size too. Here's more on the park:

Just twelve miles from Washington, D.C., Greenbelt Park is located in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland.

The park features a 174 site campground with specific site reservations, nine miles of trails, and three picnic areas. 

The campground is open all year round. The campground is known for its affordability, safety, peaceful surroundings, and National Park Service hospitality.

I stopped off there after I got my oil changed at Jiffy Lube. I just want to get out and walk some in nature. Just a change of pace instead of staying in and look for jobs to apply to. It's good to get out and take a break from it (more on that in a future post).

On my walk I ran into this guy. I was just walking along the path and looked up and there he was. He eyed me for a few minutes not sure what to make of me. I stayed as still as possible. The deer decided to head deeper into the woods. Here some video of him heading out.

As I was driving out of the park, a deer wanted to cross the road but he stopped at the edge of the road. He seemed to stamp his foot in frustration that he could not cross the road. He looked at me for a little while and then headed back into the woods.

Le Mirage by the Saffron Dance Company

Not everyone can say they know someone who belly dances. Well I can I do. My friend Diane, who I volunteer with at Food and Friends, is a belly dancer. She dances with the Saffron Dance Company.

Here's a little more about Saffron Dance:

Our Mission

Saffron Dance seeks to lead the belly dance community by continuing to elevate the artistic integrity of belly dance as an art form through the education and training of all aspects of belly dance via classes workshops, retreats, teacher trainings and studio-to-studio support.

Our Core Values

Community | Saffron Dance was created and continues to exist from a fundamental core value of artistic generosity. With a commitment to both artistic excellence and acceptance of women from all movement backgrounds, body types and ages, we are a community of “Saffronitas” - accomplished and diverse women who dance together, support one another, and discover our voices together. A Saffronita is a woman who shimmies in unexpected places without warning, is generous in spirit, is artistically supportive and is comfortable in her skin.

Curriculum | By creating and teaching from a living curriculum of five definitive levels, Saffron Dance has established a comprehensive pedagogy of movement and theory fundamental to preserving and sharing belly dance as art form. Because Saffron Dance believes that the dance is passed forward by generations and geographies of women, the Saffron Dance curriculum emphasizes attributing the styles and techniques to dancers and musicians who came before us. We believe that a multi-level living curriculum establishes standards for teaching and learning. This commitment to training dancers from an organized and disciplined methodology allows for dancers to develop the competence to ultimately enjoy the confidence this dance form inspires.

Collaboration | From its fundamental roots, Saffron Dance was created to nurture and cultivate growth. Saffron Dance believes that when artists work together and genuinely support one another, magic happens. We seek out faculty and staff who possess an authentic mindset and heart of valuing collaboration as an integral component of their dance environment. This culture manifests in dancers working together from a place of respect - understanding the value that each dancer brings to the community through their teaching, choreography and performing. By holding this value at its very core, our student community also reflects a group of women who project a positivity and generosity of spirit, the core of Saffron Dance.

Confidence | Saffron Dance believes that all women deserve support and encouragement to explore, expand and identify who they are through dance. This unique journey to defining and strengthening movement in one’s body directly correlates to a woman finding strength and confidence in her voice. By teaching via an Active Teaching Active Learning environment, Saffronitas take responsibility for their movement and become more aware of their power, strength and potential.

Commitment | Saffron Dance faculty members are genuinely committed to the artistic development of all faculty and students, irrespective of dance level, age or body type. Saffron Dance focuses on the dance growth of its students and faculty rather than enhancing the brand of any individual artist. At Saffron Dance, Master Level teachers are committed to introducing the fundamentals to beginner students, ensuring that the students start their dance journey with a strong foundation of dance fundamentals and a comprehensive understanding of Saffron’s values and culture. Saffron teachers are committed and trained to provide dancers constructive feedback and corrections from a place of love and support for the purpose of growing a student’s dance.

Here are some pictures from their performance last night. (One note on the pictures, I was in the back row so some of the pictures have the tops of people's heads in them. I was going to crop those out, but, on second thought, I decided it was better to be able to see all of the performer instead of cropping them at the knees.)

The Dancers from Saffron Dance

More of The Dancers from Saffron Dance

Diane, Part I

Here are pictures from the three numbers Diane was in.

This picture really shows how much fun the dancers have.

Diane, Part II

Diane, Part III

This was my favorite dance of the night. The canes were just so cool. And they did twirl them around.

Gio Gets Win 100!

Another historic night at Nats Park, Gio Gonzalez gets win number 100.

But to start off the evening it was Max Scherzer Bobblehead night.

It was a see saw battle the Colorado Rockies. The Nats would score and the next inning the Rockies would score. It was just one run each time that is until the Nats scored 4 runs in the 7th and put the game away. There was a small amount of excitement in the top of the 9th where the Rockies were able to get three runs but still fell short. 8-5 Nats win.

The Nats strike first. Jayson Werth homers in the first.

Daniel Murphy solo shot in the 5th inning.

From the Post:

Thanks to Turner’s second infield hit of the game, Werth’s second RBI of the night and Bryce Harper’s first triple of the season, the Nationals piled on in the seventh. Harper, who doubled earlier in the game, did not have more than one extra-base hit in a game from April 23 to mid-August. He now has two such games in the past 12 days.

Gio gets win 100!

Gio's reaction to his win:

I’m happy I did it here with this organization,” Gonzalez said. “Oakland gave me an opportunity, and Washington helped me continue that opportunity, and I couldn’t be happier to do it with these colors and represent the Washington Nationals. They’ve been great to me and my family, and I couldn’t be happier with the crowd and group of guys I’ve been around for the last five seasons.

Linus and Charlie Keeping Me Company at Home

The guys have been helping me pass the time these last few weeks as I've been at home during that time.

The reason I've been home is that my job went away. I've been unemployed since mid July. My last day at work was July 11. I've been navigating the world of unemployment these past few weeks. Part of it was actually applying for unemployment from the state of Maryland. You apply in the state where you were employed not where you live.

More on adjusting to unemployment in the next few posts but for now pictures of Linus and Charlie.