Weather or Not

Sandy preparing for a potty break in her hurricane raincoat

We have been here at Sullivan Place  Apts. one year ago, as of August 28th.  The countdown for leaving has begun and we will start driving back to Arizona in February. Yes, it will probably take me six months to prepare to leave, but that's the topic of another blog.

I would like to address my concerns over the lousy weather here on the east coast.  I feel I have been mislead into thinking that the only concern here is the high humidity in the summer-hah!

An earthquake and a hurricane in one week?  These unprecedented events have me pining for the ungodly heat of Arizona.  But, on a more positive note, the days are becoming more temperate and the evenings and mornings are cool-(think Mesa in October).

The earthquake caught me completely unaware that such a thing was even possible.  I heard a loud commotion that I thought was coming from the upstairs apt. At first I thought new neighbors were moving in and had dropped a piece of heavy furniture. Ever since our heavy-footed upstairs neighbor "Horton" moved away, we have enjoyed the peace and quiet we so desperately crave in apartment living.

The mirror on the bedroom dresser began to shake furiously and I stared in amazement with my mouth hanging open, I am sure. At first, I thought it was something far more sinister than Mother Nature and the eerie quiet afterward really unnerved me.  Since it was in the middle of the afternoon, most of my neighbors were at work.  I opened the door to the hallway to see if anyone was running out of the building-negative.  I just stood there for a few minutes trying to compose myself, when my neighbor Cynthia knocked on the door and informed me that we had just experienced an earthquake-what!?

As you may have heard, the cell phones were jammed with overload calls and I was unable to reach Tom at work except by texting. I had just gotten a new phone a day or two earlier and was still in the learning curve of using a phone with new gadgets.  Tom got home a couple of hours later and I was glad for the company. The thought of aftershocks was really scary to me- I have not felt any of them subsequently.

Of course that was the talk of the town for the next several days. We easterners were made sport of by folks in California who thought we all over-reacted- well I never!  The biggest problem that was brought to light, was that most everyone ran out of their buildings in the downtown area which is very dangerous during an earthquake. Note to self- if this happens again, get under a piece of heavy furniture and fold up as you would in a bear attack. ( I suppose that will be the next event here in DC- bears running amok and the citizens running for their lives instead of rolling in a ball and playing dead). The buildings, monuments and museums were closed so as to assess damage and safety concerns. The evening commute home on the Metro was not fun and I was happy to be at home instead of waiting in the dark and clammy metro stations.

Glad that it was over and feeling at peace again- the news began to broadcast the coming of the mother of all hurricanes to hit this part of the country-IRENE!  

OMG!  The news was unrelenting in their coverage and pleaded with everyone to stock up on essentials to last up to a week. I began to get more and more uneasy and so I went to the Giant grocery store Friday morning to get non-perishable staples.  The store was crowded even at 11:00 am and they were already out of D batteries- oh Lordy!

I have been trying to eat more healthy foods the last few weeks as the winter weight gain has surely visited my home.  In my search for food that did not need to be refrigerated, I found myself grabbing all types of processed foods that I normally avoid. My must haves: Chocolate flavored peanut butter, pretzels, Ritz crackers, popcorn, one bag of apples, jello so full of preservatives that it didn't even require refrigeration, tuna and cracker snack packs and diet Pepsi in case we couldn't make coffee.
Coincidentally, there was an article in the Washington Post today about the stockpiles of junk foods that people now have in their pantry. Pretty funny stuff.  After the hub-bub died down, I packed a "snack" bag for Tom to take to work-ha out of the house devil food!

I was a nervous wreck on Saturday and I wasn't the only one.  Poor Sandy had a Dr. appointment and I regret not cancelling it now. She had to have blood drawn for a refill on her arthritis medication and have the usual poking and probing. She nipped two groomers at her next appointment and she was sent home....Poor old thing. We reckon she is about 13 years old by now and she is a bundle of nerves in stormy weather.

We bought her a Thundershirt which provides deep pressure to calm her down when we have a storm or God forbid the wind blow a little too gustily. The Thundershirt has really helped her in these times and has even helped with her separation anxiety- I highly recommend them for your nervous Nellies'.
http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=CJvxvMv596oCFcw42godtlA7BQ

Sunday morning was sunny and warm and we felt fortunate to have all our comforts intact. I felt badly for the tourists who had spent their hard earned travel money and time to see the sights here in DC. Everything closed down and the dedication of the new Martin Luther King memorial was cancelled as well. It was to be the prime event of the weekend.

Now we have spent a whole summer here and I will take the "dry heat" of Arizona over the hair frizzling humidity here in the Northeast anytime.  Fall is just around the corner and I am looking forward to the change of seasons and the delicious Virginia apples. I have loved being here and experiencing the most unusual and adventure- filled year of my life.

I will be trying to catch up on my blogs- a lot went on this summer and I have had little motivation to get writing, but now I am on a roll- so watch out!

A Prairie Home Companion

Lake Wobegon set- live broadcast June 28th, 2011

It is 4th of July weekend already and I am just now getting to writing about Memorial Day. We spent yesterday at the Luray Caverns-great fun and the bonus of a  beautiful trip though the Shenandoah Valley. Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th everyone!


When I was attending massage therapy school, I became a fan of  my favorite radio program, A Prairie Home Companion. I would listen to it when I had finished my long Saturday shift in the student massage clinic. In those days, I often wanted to be anyone but myself and be anywhere except where I was, due to the acrimonious divorce I was going through at the time. How I looked forward to tallying up my practice hours and heading home to Mesa for a hot shower. My company on the way home was Garrison Keillor and company.  I could always get a laugh from the down home humor.  I have always wanted to be at the live broadcast of the show and if I can't be at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St, Paul Minn, then this was my alternate goal- Wolf Trap in Vienna Virginia!

Saturday evening of Memorial Day weekend, we set off for the live broadcast at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts  http://www.wolftrap.org/

We debated the pros and cons of public transportation vs driving ourselves. In the end, we drove, as it would have required two Metro transfers and a bus ride as well.  Wolf Trap is administrated by the National Park Service and parking was orchestrated like a well-oiled machine-impressive.

The venue is gorgeous and the weather was temperate- just lovely for the 5:45 start of the performance.
I got excited and purchased the tickets last January, so we had excellent seats at the Filene Center and didn't have sit on the lawn.

It is customary to picnic prior to the show and I ordered a delicious picnic dinner from the Ovations Restaurant  with sandwiches, cheese and fruit. We also enjoyed a pre-show cocktail at the tented bar.  It was some kind of delicious bourbon and lemonade drink and I was tempted to have another. However, rather than being overly enthusiastic at the broadcast, I decided to stick with just one. 

The show started with a warm-up at 5:45 with Garrison Keillor and a female singer-didn't catch her name..  They strolled around the periphery of the theatre and lawn seating while singing  and chatting.

The show started promptly at 6:00 and it was thrilling to see the "on air" sign light up.

The customary remarks about the locale were hilarious as Mr. Keillor remarked on the local political scene , mall shirtless joggers and the requisite lawyer jokes. I beamed with pride as there are some times I feel entitled to call myself a "local".

I couldn't help but notice that the majority of the audience were aging baby boomers such as ourselves and also those of a more advanced generation. I've gotta say that the crowd was well behaved and no one was texting during the show- ha ha !

Tom and I had seen Garrison Keillor's one man show in Phoenix and enjoyed his story telling which is full of playful jabs at Lutheran Midwesterners. If you haven't heard the show, I would urge you to give it a try- it is broadcast on Saturday nights through your local NPR station: www.prairiehome.org.

The evenings guests were "The Wailin' Jennys",  a bluegrass sister band that appears often as guests
on the show.


It was fun to watch the cardboard moon drop down as Mr. Keillor began his weekly monologue "It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown".


Also dropped down were faux advertising signs from "The National Catchup Advisory Board and Powdermilk Biscuits" Also dropping down at the Filene Center, were tiny spiders who randomly dropped from the rafters and you could see them in the dusk, making their way down to unsuspecting patron's laps and shoulders.



The show ended and we spent another few minutes singing "God Bless America" with the cast. A fitting end to a Memorial weekend show. Once again, my understanding husband who is a PHC convert, was my amiable companion at the event- love you Tom!

Civil War Battlefields

General Stonewall Jackson

It is our first full summer here and now we will have experienced all four seasons on the east coast. Although it is humid, it is a welcome relief to escape another scorching Arizona summer.

We got notification just last week that Tom's active duty tour will be extended and we will be here until end of January 2012. Time is of the essence now and I am determined to see as much of the area as possible and not to squander our precious time.

In my last blog, I had written about our fun vacation with my sister Mary Beth and brother-in-law Bob. They were excellent house guests, but they did have one flaw- the inability to keep an aerobed inflated for an entire night.  Inevitable, we would hear the motor powering up again to re-inflate the bed as the Thouvenels found themselves on the floor once again. I don't recall what night they were victorious in a good night's sleep- but it may have been the night before our trip to Gettysburg PA.

Brother Bob requested this trip and I am so glad he did. The 150 year commemoration of the beginning of the Civil War is this year and the battlefields have many special events to mark the event.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

Gettysburg is only about 90 miles from where we live and it was doable in a one day trip. The Pennsylvania countryside is so green and beautiful.  Now I know why my friends' Carol,  Linda and Sue love it there.

The town of Gettysburg has a small town flavor and it is chock full of small museums, restaurants and antique stores. It would be a fun place to spend a leisurely weekend. The east coast seems particularly interested in ghosts and I think it is because of the enormous numbers of  civil war casualties that may or may not have made it to an appropriate resting place due to the vast numbers.

We visited the Gettysburg National Military Park first, The building is fairly new and just beautiful. The exhibits are superb and a highlight was the cyclorama 360 degree visual and auditory reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg which took place July 1-3 1863. 
It must have been a special Boy Scout event day as the place was swarming with well-behaved (of course) Boy Scouts touring the museum. 

We had made reservations on line to take a guided bus tour of the battlefields and it was well worth it. Our tour guide was really good and  so knowledgeable.   www.gettysburgbattlefieldtours.com


 The bus made several stops and we disembarked and she described the events of each day of the battle. The battlefield is managed by the National Park Service and  it has been restored to it's natural state. You can actually see the vistas where the soldiers marched in and what tactical positions each side took and why-fascinating.


Apparently in the 50's subdivisions were built on the battleground property and the houses have since been cleared out with the exception of one lone hold out who refuses to budge.  I also didn't know that President Eisenhower and his wife Mamie had a getaway PA farm in Gettysburg. www.nps.gov/eise/

The names of Little Round Top , McPherson's Ridge and Cemetery Hill  ran through my mind on the trip home.  I would certainly recommend a trip to Gettysburg if you are ever in the area- a very memorable experience.





We spent one day of Memorial Day weekend at the Manassas National Battlefield  Park, site of the first and second battle of Manassas (aka Bull Run).  It is less than an hours drive from our place and it makes me feel so lucky to have history practically in my own backyard (if I had one).

In both Gettysburg and Bull Run there were one civilian fatality each. At Gettysburg, an unfortunate woman was killed in her own kitchen when a stray sniper bullet found her. See, I told you it was dangerous to spend too much time in the kitchen!  In Manassas, an elderly woman refused to be evacuated from her sick bed in her home even though the battle was actually raging on and around her farm. A cannonball destroyed her home and consequently she lost her life.  I think how scary it must have been for the citizens  of these communities to be right in the thick of things. 


The Henry Hill Visitor Center was our first stop- very nice and low key. A contrast to the more updated and slick Gettysburg visitor center. www.nps.gov/mana
The first battle took place in July 1861 and the second in August 1862.  I think how hard it must have been to be in battle in the first place and then to wear wool uniforms in the heat of summer. Especially sad when you see the pictures of so many young men whose lives were cut short.

  We also drove to The Brawner farm Interpretive Center and The Old Stone House.  It was a very hot day and the crowds were sparse. We took a 30 minute walking tour from an earnest volunteer rookie who did a good job. We all postured around the nearest shade tree and enjoyed the beautiful vistas.  The only distraction were two brother who I would guess were 3 and 5 years old. Who could blame them for fussing at something they couldn't possibly understand and to stand and walk in the heat! 

We concluded the day with a dinner at The Cracker Barrel restaurant.  It seemed we were in  the South and not a stone's throw from a busy urban area. I had Southern fried chicken and greens-delicious. 


There are more battlefields to see and we hope to get to Fredricksburg sometime soon. I am having my usual struggles with captioning my photos- but hope you enjoy them nonetheless.

Yankees!

This year commemorates the start of the Civil War 150 years ago.  The area is rich in history and we have become interested in learning more about this terrible time in our nation's history.  I was never very interested in Civil War History as it seemed so far away in time and distance from my life.

I got an idea of the continuing relevance and strong feelings and traditions the summer before last, when Tom and I went to Branson Missouri during the 4th  of July weekend.  We decided to go to the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede Dinner Theatre http://www.dixiestampede.com/

It was so much fun, but we were shocked to learn that we would choose whether to be Yankees or Confederates and be seated on opposites sides of the arena-huh!? There were feats of skills between the two "teams" and we cheered on the Yankee side of course.  I thought the Civil War was so long ago that it was not so relevant anymore- wrong.  In retrospect, I think it is important to remember this time and be proud of the people who fought and worked so hard for needed change.

Well, my sister Mary Beth and husband Bob came for a visit in May to celebrate her 60th birthday- imagine that.  We are all Yankees, the Thouvenels and the Drydens- born and bred in the Pacific Northwest.  My brother in law is a retired high school history teacher and my sister a voracious reader and also a retired teacher and principal. Both are very much interested in American History.

Mary Beth is four years older than I am and we have a special bond (as I do with all three of my sisters for the different reasons and seasons they have influenced my life).  We socialized a lot together back in the 70's and 80's in Portland with our first spouses.  We know each other pretty well, I would say.  Because she is four years older, I missed out on riding on her coattails of popularity at Redmond High School- how unfair! 

The anticipation of having more visitors was exciting- the weather was just starting to improve and  I was looking forward to my first Spring here.  I worked feverishly on the planned itinerary to make sure it would be a memorable visit.  The highlight of the trip was to be a trip to NPR (National Public Radio)studios in D C- well as my son-in law would say: Fail!!


The first day here we went to The Old Ebbit Grill for dinner, a walk to the White House and a moonlight trip to The Lincoln Memorial. I never get tired of the sight of the Lincoln Memorial- so awe inspiring. 

The next day was our trip to Arlington Cemetery. The weather was nice and we enjoyed the Lee House which I love to see when we make trips into DC. I have come to love General Lee- he has the dearest, saddest eyes and he was conflicted about slavery.  He is revered here and it has been fun getting to know more about him.

The next day was MB's birthday and we had an awesome day planned. Okay, I screwed up the plans for NPR and the much anticipated tour.  Somehow I cannot seem to get the concept that  National Public Radio and my local NPR affiliate are not one and the same.......I hauled these two poor Yankee visitors from the beaver state almost to the end of the red line train after the "helper" at the Metro station didn't know where or what NPR was .  It turned out we were really close, but then took a ridiculous detour to WMAU and were politely informed that we were in the wrong place- they were trying not to laugh at us but it was surely embarrassing.....sorry about that Mary Beth.  I vow to get there one day and will probably have to drag Tom there in your place. 

The rest of the day went smoothly except for putting up with the insufferable Metro workers who Mary Beth says must have some sort of seasonal affective disorder from being in dark cavernous spaces most of the day.  She thinks better lighting would make them less cranky.....

We took a quick tour of the museum at Ford's Theatre before heading out for day one of our Tourmobile tour of the Orange and Green lines. We lucked out and had great drivers/tour guides.  We made a stop at the National Cathedral -beautiful and chock full of school groups.

We ran to In style Nails when we returned home and got french pedicures-awesome and our feet were killing us by the way. 

We ended the big birthday day at LaPorta's Restaurant-delicious! http://www.laportas.net/


The next day was drizzly and grey and the tourists seemed to be growing exponentially along the mall.
We attempted to take a tour of The Capitol Building .  It began to rain and then pour on us- an omen I think.  A pleasant intern was posted outside by the screening area handing our red umbrellas to borrow while waiting. The screening process is stringent and MB had to chuck her empty water bottle.  I was delayed getting in  as the European tourists in front of me had nail scissors in their bag-sigh...I felt and looked like a drowned rat and after seeing the hoards of middle school kids waiting for their tour- we decided to peruse the  museum displays and forgo the tour. 

We went to The Library of Congress, The Air and Space Museum and The National Museum of the American Indian.  We had a tasty lunch at the Mitsitam restaurant at the museum.  I have one more Groupon- so Tom and I will soon be returning for another delicious meal- a not to be missed experience.

We especially enjoyed the collection of Civil War photos at the Library of Congress. The pictures were heartbreaking to see so many young, innocent soldiers and their families fighting in that terrible war.

No trip to our neck of the woods would be complete without a visit to my favorite- Mount Vernon!  The weather was great and we enjoyed the day.

That night, we went to Eamon's Restaurant http://eamonnsdublinchipper.com/ in Old Town Alexandria- this was on Bob's wish list and since he was such a good sport we tried it out. The fish and chips were very good and we should have stopped there. We decided to try out a dessert sampler of a deep fried Mars bars and dough balls. How to describe the effect on the digestive tracts of four 50 plus Yankees.... Oh my, the fried delights sunk down in our stomachs and we were queasy from the overload of grease and sugar. It was worth it though and now I can cross  deep fried candy bars off my bucket list  : )

Our last day in DC was spent at The National museums of Natural and American History. The grand finale was a matinee of Liberty Smith at the Ford's theatre.  A delightful treat- thanks Mary and Bob!

The last day of the visit was spent in Gettysburg PA. I will write about that in a separate blog as this one is getting rather long and I want to include lots of pictures.

We had a great visit and enjoyed the good company, delicious meals and the fun of exploring here in DC Metro.