You won't find them on a shortbread tin, but our ancestors live on so long as we keep telling their stories. Scots, Yanks, Canucks and the Auld Enemy. Newest posts are the ancestors, but scroll for the living.
Roosevelt Island is certainly a nice hike, but not one of the most photogenic places in Washington. A dog was doing some dead-waterfowl retrieval drills, but not much exciting beyond that.
I rarely — if ever — venture into downtown D.C. when the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom, but something inspired me this year. Not only do you have to deal with city traffic, but tourists, and they seam to get stupider each year.
Not to mention, I honestly don’t like the look of a cherry tree in bloom … at least not up close. They look like a floral pipe cleaner. I like my blossoms a little more random and well spaced. Maybe a dogwood, or magnolia.
This time, I went down the day before peak … and did it at some obscene hour of the morning. The foot traffic around the tidal basin was predictably insane (and I hereby vow to never do it again, again) but the more remote groves — like this one, north of the monument — were just as stunning, and much less crowded.
I got tickets to the Washington, DC regional of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this year (“Oh, brother … where art thou?”) and watch George Mason rampage through the region from the nose-bleeds in the upper deck.
This particular gem of a picture was taken at the tipoff for overtime, with the score tied at 74. By the time it was over, Mason had upset Connecticut 86-84. Going into the game, I was actually a little apathetic, until I read Uconn coach Jim Calhoun shoot his mouth off:
“It’s going to be nice playing an away game,” Calhoun said. “I’m looking forward to that. I think that part of the system is really working out to protect the 1s.”
Come on, Coach. Do number one seeded teams really need to be protected against number ELEVEN seeded teams? Oh wait. i guess they do …
The first of the Washington DC in bloom pictures. It’s been a while since I have done the Cherry Blossoms, so I will probably do that when they bloom in a week and a half. These were just taken around our apartment building on the other side of the Potomac from D.C..
Something like my fourth trip back to this hike, located about 20 minutes north of Baltimore. Still far and away my favorite. First trip in cold weather, though … and I think it was my first trip where it didn’t rain.
I was suprised how nice Norfolk’s zoo is … it’s pretty big, the animal displays are reasonably updated and humane looking, and the range of wildlife is pretty startling considering the location. Besides, there’s nothing like watching turtles making whoopie with your family.
For some reason, I love hiking around abandoned farmland. It must be my hippie upbringing, but my favorite hike (Susquahannah State Park) is also around the same type environment. I must have spend half an hour walking around an old abandoned barn on the Merkle property.
Speaking of which, I should really do Susquahannah again. I don’t think I have been there since I got the new camera.
Not much of a hike to and from, but the payoff (the falls themselves) was amazing. I’ve never had much chance to play around with shutter speed near water before, and that in itself was a lot of fun. Hokie, but fun.
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