Crisp fall weather is finally here, and I love it! To mark the occasion, I took a long walk in Rock Creek Park yesterday. It's so nice there this time of year, with the bugs and humidity finally gone. I didn't see any wildlife, or thankfully encounter any coyotes, but I did hear a lot of unusual bird sounds. The foliage wasn't very spectacular, with only a few trees in the yellow and red stages; they seem to be going straight from green to brown this year. Still, it's soothing to watch the leaves fall from the taller trees and flutter to the ground, and to hear them crunching underfoot while walking along the path. I love the sound of the leaves going under the wheels of cyclists going by, and the sight of them floating down the creek like little boats.

I took my camera on my little hike, and have started posting the photos in a new Rock Creek Park set on Flickr. 

The downside of the season is that it is a bit depressing, and the shorter days and falling leaves are a reminder of our mortality. What really seals the deal is the return of Eastern Standard Time in a few weeks, plunging millions into premature darkness every day for the sake of a few farmers(?) and/or schoolchildren. Why we don't have year-round Daylight Saving Time is unfathomable, or at least split the difference and leave it at that.

It's during the shortest days of winter that Rock Creek Park gives a more sinister impression. The natural beauty is still there, but the shadows are longer and darker, the sunlight weaker, the sounds of unseen animals a little more menacing. Thoughts turn to Chandra Levy, and the old stories of stone altars with animal sacrifices in the park. Scary, but remember that spring is around the corner!

I've long maintained that multitasking was inefficient, and this morning there was a story on NPR which scientifically concluded the same. My preference has always been to take on one task at a time, and accomplish them quickly, accurately and efficiently, but most definitely in serial fashion. When forced to multitask, say by my boss at work, errors start to creep in and I get frustrated and angry.

Multitasking is plainly visible to be a failure on the streets of the city. Every day while walking around, you'll see people talking on cellphones, texting, and reading email on Blackberries as they navigate the sidewalks. And they navigate quite erratically, don't they? Aside from the obvious danger of walking into the path of speeding traffic while not payingt attention, there are all the little bits of inefficiency that are cumulative. I'll be walking along purposefully at my usual brisk pace, and notice a light about to change ahead, and accelerate in order to make it. The guy messing with his iPhone next to me does not make the light, and consequently misses the train that I catch, and the next one's not coming for 7 minutes. Wouldn't it be better to check your email later, having made yourself 7 minutes of time?

It drives me crazy when I'm interacting with people who are multitasking. Cell phone talkers and texters tend to swerve and walk erratically, and always seem to be in front of me, impeding my progress. Friends and relatives will call me while they're driving or walking the dog, leading to all sorts of miscommunications and repetitions, not to mention honking and barking. The worst is when people waiting on line in a store or restaurant are talking on cellphones while they should be reading the menu, getting their credit cards out, and interacting efficiently and politely with employees. Shouldn't real, live humans behind the counter take precedence over a disembodied voice on a cellphone?   

Maybe my fossilized old brain is stuck in the 20th century, but I'm not up to the task of multitasking. I'll stick with one thing at a time, please, and muddle through that way.
 

It's been kindof a rough year so far, and I haven't been feeling well lately, so I really needed a good, relaxing weekend, and I got it. This past weekend was perfect! The weather was gorgeous both days, for a change, and it turned out there weren't any delays yet on the Green and Yellow lines, so I was able to get around efficiently.

On Saturday, I went down to Dupont Circle to take in some of the open houses at the EU Embassies, and got there early enough to avoid the longest lines. Portugal, being closest to the Metro, was jam-packed, so I skipped it and went on to the Embassy of Luxembourg. They were kind enough to let me use the bathroom there, a nice one, with real hand towels and marble surfaces. Then it was on to Greece, where there was a large free food spread with a long line. I skipped that, preferring to take photos of the architecture instead. Then I went into the Romanian Embassy, which was pretty nice. The Ambassador's office was open, but there was a sign prohibiting photography, and a velvet rope. Otherwise, I took many photos of the embassies, and will gradually upload them to Flickr as time permits.

After touring the embassies, I was pretty hungry, and on the way home stopped at the new Pete's Apizza in Columbia Heights. I had a couple of slices and a soda, and it really hit the spot. Their counter seating is a great location for people-watching, facing right towards the Metro entrance.

Later on, I also accomplished some chores: I got the car washed, did the grocery shopping, and
hooked up the digital converter to the old TV in the back room, which now gets all the HDTV broadcasts, not in HD of course. Best of all, I took a couch nap with the kitty, who has been well-behaved and affectionate while my wife is out of town. Good boy!

On Sunday, the weather was again spectacular, so after breakfast and coffee with M at Mayorga, I grabbed my camera and headed downtown. I ended up walking a couple of miles, passing through the Enid Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle building, and hanging out at the Cinco De Mayo Festival by the Slyvan Theater for awhile. I got to see some of the performers close up, and took a couple of decent photos. The music was good, but there wasn't much food around as far as I could tell. I finished the afternoon by walking around The Ellipse, and photographing the First Division Monument before heading home. The new camera is doing well, and I think I got some decent shots today while playing with the various modes.

After such a perfect weekend, it's pretty disappointing to be back at the office. Oh well, looking forward to the next one! 

Despite my still-achey-but-slowly-improving back, on Sunday I attended a second of the WalkingTown tours, sponsored by Cultural Tourism DC. This tour was the Mount Vernon Triangle Development Tour, which was led by Bill McLeod of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District. The Mount Vernon Triangle is bounded by 7th Street, and New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts Avenues NW. We started off in front of the old Central Library with a discussion of the history of the area, and then proceeded east to the 5th and K City Vista construction site where condominiums, a Safeway, results gym, and Busboys & Poets restaurant will be opening soon.
 
I should point out that in the middle of the construction zone, I spotted a cute, young-looking cat sitting there. He or she ran off before I could take a picture, but I mentioned it to the City Vista people, who told me they were aware of the situation and have been feeding and trying to capture the cat, who did not appear to be feral. Perhaps the Washington Humane Society would be interested in investigating further?

From there, we walked through some historic cobblestones alleys, past a strip club that has been in the neighborhood for years, met a member of the MVTCID Clean Team, and ended by getting a tour of a brand-new office building at 455 Massachusetts Avenue NW. The developers let us wander around the raw, unfinished tenth floor where we had refreshments and took in the views in all directions. It was an interesting tour, and I was glad to hear that for every one of the patchwork of vacant and parking lots in the neighborhood, plans were in place for future development. As Bill McLeod pointed out, anytime you see a surface parking lot in the middle of a city, it indicates an economic or urban planning failure, and an opportunity for the future. I couldn't agree more.
 

 The weather was sunny, if a bit chilly, on Easter Sunday, and not being the religious type, I decided to go for a long walk. This time, I thought I'd cover ground along the Southwest Waterfront, which isn't one of my usual haunts, being somewhat off the beaten path. The SW quadrant of DC is the smallest in size, bounded by the Mall, South Capitol Street, and the Potomac River. Much of the older buildings were destroyed in the urban renewal projects of the 1950s-70s, and replaced by bland concrete high-rises and an ugly shopping mall. However, there are some charming areas to be found along the waterfront, so that's where I headed.

Starting off at the Waterfront Metro Station on the Green Line, the first thing I noticed was the old shopping mall has been demolished, with just the Safeway left standing and a CVS in a temporary trailer. The good news is that 4th Street SW is going to be reconnected, and the retail corridor to be reconfigured more like a traditional main street. Heading south, I reached the riverfront near where the Titanic Memorial and Fort McNair are located. The Titanic Memorial is an art deco sculpture by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney dating from 1931, and one of my favorite memorials.

Then, I walked all the way north along the Waterfront Promenade, and it was pleasant despite the Jetsons-style 1960s street furniture and architecture. The streetlights are those large plexiglass spheres, and the plazas, railings, and benches are all in that poured concrete Brutalist style. Fortunately, there are plenty of visual diversions with the waters of the Washington Channel (the Potomac between the mainland and Hains Point) right there. I walked past DC's fireboat station, the Washington Marina, the Maine Lobsterman statue, and saw lots of joggers, fishermen and dogwalkers out and about. At the end of the promenade is the Maine Avenue Fish Market, where you can buy just about any type of fresh fish, shellfish, squid, shrimp, or perhaps our own local specialty, fish of the 3-eyed inter-sexed variety? Aside from the fish market, there really aren't any places to get a cup of coffee, or a light lunch. there are a few large seafoods restaurants and nightclubs, but the waterfront is desperately in need of better retail and food options.

I was on a roll, and really enjoying the walk, so I kept on going all the way up to the Mall and beyond, for a total of 2.5 miles. It's not often we think of Washington as having a waterfront aside from the Georgetown section, but it does exist and I'd encourage everyone to check it out. There are major redevelopment plans for the neighborhood, and it will be interesting to see how it looks in a few years. 
 

The usual Sunday morning coffee get-together with M was postponed to Monday this week, since it was a holiday. We also invited current neighbors A and L. I was glad they could come, they're a very nice couple and excellent neighbors.

Later in the day, J and I took a long walk down to Dupont Circle and back, a total of almost 4 miles. It was hot and humid, but we cooled off in Anne Taylor Loft, where J did some shopping and I sat in the thoughtfully provided "man chair." While sitting, I scoped out the clothes and decided that if I was a woman, I'd shop definitely shop there, for part of my wardrobe. Too bad they don't have a men's equivalent store; "Man Taylor Loft?" Shopping for clothes stresses me out so much, I can't stand it.

The people watching in Dupont Circle itself was good on Monday. There was a singer/guitar-player performing who wasn't half bad, tons of cute dogs as usual, a guy wearing a kilt, someone doing yoga, and tourists on Segways. I could have sat there for hours just watching the fountain and all the people walking by. I wish Columbia Heights had a similar hangout, but maybe the land in front of the Park triangle building will eventually serve the same purpose.

I wanted to take the bus or Metro home, but J offered to buy me dessert at Rita's Water Ice if we walked back, so I sucked it up and tagged along. My reward was a blueberry ice, with real blueberries in it, and a dollop of vanilla frozen custard on top. It was delicious, and the perfect end to a relaxing weekend. Well, relaxing aside from the cat throwing up twice, then hissing at me and badly scratching my hand.

While J was at her skating lesson in Virginia, I went down to the Mall for a walk, with the objective of taking some pictures, and generally seeing our city from the perspective of the tourists. My technique was to carry my camera in a Giant grocery bag through our neighborhood to the Metro, and them once I was in the core tourist area, I hung the camera around my neck, this way I'd blend in with both environments. Well, I actually didn't blend it TOO well with the tourists, because I was wearing shoes instead of sneakers, and wasn't wearing some DC-themed tee shirt or hat, or carrying one of those Smithsonian bags with the sun on it. Also, I was alone and moving nimbly, rather than shuffling along 6-abreast. One tourist figured out I was a local and asked me directions to L'Enfant Plaza. He didn't speak English too well, but with a lot of pointing and hand gestures, I sent him on his way.

I stopped by and took pictures of the following sites: the National Archives, NGA Sculpture Garden, Natural History Museum, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, the Federal Triangle buildings, the District Building, and Freedom Plaza. It was almost a 3 mile walk according to Map My Run. Some of the pictures look OK, though the weather and light was extremely variable. They should appear in my Flickr photostream soon enough. Maybe I'll tackle Capitol Hill next, it was fun going off on my own and taking pictures! The novelty of the new camera hasn't worn off yet.

For dinner tonight, we went to Rumberos because we were both too tired to walk much further, and I have to reluctantly report the experience was less than stellar. The food was good, as usual, but the service was off tonight. You know, things coming out from the kitchen in the wrong order, missing drinks, confusion with another table's order, those kinds of issues. I hope it was just an isolated thing, and not a harbinger of a slide in service. We really want this place to succeed since it's a pretty unique local business, the interior is stunning, and it's very close by.