elephant sandwich

vibrant blossom

This weekend we foolishly decided to head to the zoo. (Foolish because so very many others had made the same decision!)
Sunday was far too humid to make for an enjoyable day of animal gawking. We saw a few animals, and intend to go back some time before the official opening of the gates. They allow you to wander the zoo grounds as early as six in the morning. I think the animals might be more active then and the tourists will most definitely be less! ;)
This picture was a bonus. This flower is in direct contrast to how wilted I felt that day.

on patrol

This funny creature was watching me while he lunched. He is part of the United States Park Police. This picture was taken on the Mall. There were many police officers with their equestrian partners waiting for some sort of ruckus to take place. I don't know if anything ever happened. We managed to visit with a few friendly horses and their human parners that day.

More Muppets ~ American Popular Culture!

Muppet Magic

For as long as I can remember, Muppets have made me smile. As far as I am concerned, Jim Henson is a genius. Puppetry is such a wonderful art. It is sculpture and storytelling and everything silly and wonderful that makes it all come alive.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History has some of Jim Henson's muppets on display until the end of summer. I'm certain to be visiting Rowlf the dog and many of my other friends again before then.

I wanted to add that the museum will close for renovations at the end of the summer.

escalator

Cleveland Park has some beautiful houses

Here is one. Actually, it was the rock wall that caught my eye. The house was an added bonus!

crane through the building

I thought it looked like the crane was going right through this building. It is really the reflection of a crane atop the building across the street. Lately, I've been taking so many pictures of cranes that my daughter commented, "You must love cranes!" I'm just always on the lookout for things I want to share here. Before I started posting daily photos I didn't stop in the middle of the sidewalk quite as often as I do now. But, you know what? I like walking around with my eyes wide open!

reflections of a city street

Party Animals on 16th street

error!

I can't get photographs to load. I shall try again in the morning.

i just like trees.

I've always felt a kinship with trees. This one lives in Meridian Hill Park. Happy Sunday!

WWII Monument

This is just a small portion of the World War II Monument, taken from within the Atlantic Pavillion. This monument was opened to the public in April 2004, and dedicated the following month. It is located on 17th Street between Constitution and Independence Avenues, in between the Lincoln and Washington Monuments. I will have many more pictures of this in the future.

Reflection on the building

This is the Hecht's on G street not far from the White House, but closer to the library! Hecht's is a department store.

construction on 12th Street & I

I took this picture on the way home from the DC public library today. I am on the look out for shots that exemplify the growth of DC right now. There are plenty of things to shoot, believe me. I realize that I need to also post a picture of the our library, as I am one who always looks for the city library and makes myself at home there. But I shall save that commentary for another day.

the crane the crane

I mentioned in a previous post that there are quite a lot of cranes in this city. So when I saw this one reaching out to the cerulean sky I was happy to have my camera.

Elephants

The Cairo Apartment Building was built in 1894 on Q Street near 16th street NW. It was one of the tallest privately owned structures at the time at 160 feet. The uproar over its construction led to the adopted height limit that is now in place in DC. It was remodeled from 73-76 and turned into condos. These elephants are one of the many intricate carvings I will show you over time!

another Metro Moment

If you take the red line to Grovenor-Strathmore, which is technically outside of DC, you will see this mini pyramid at the top of the escalator.

Happy Mother's Day

I had hoped to take more pictures today, but unfortunately my battery was dead, and I only managed to squeeze enough juice out of it to grab this shot. It is not your typical mother's day photo... nor is it something I would have thought I'd be posting today.. What I mean is , I realize this is not the best photo , it was not set up in the way I had wanted, but alas.. the battery..

We went for a walk earlier today and I saw the man in the picture with bags full of strips of the police line ribbon and other debris. I mean he literally had three to five bags. My husband, David, said that he had seen the guy earlier collecting the stuff. So we see him, and he is , with great care, hanging up these precious little strips of yellow.

Now, this man was probably homeless, quite possibly crazy (but who am I to judge?). I have no idea why he was decorating the city on this day. I wonder what he was thinking. I wonder how many strips of yellow he managed to hang.
I hope he was long gone before the shop owners and hotel workers removed them. He really did seem to have a purpose, even if it was merely in his own head.

And I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's day! I like to think he was decorating the city to honor Mother's everywhere.

of course, he could just like yellow.

Thomas Circle

We move to DC in June of last year. Thomas Circle has been under construction the entire time. It may not seem like much too look at from this picture, but we have high hope. It has come quite a long way. When living in NYC, we watched, waited and finally saw the 'unveiling' of Columbus Circle. We left before being able to fully enjoy that bit of NY, but look forward to this one much in the same way.

Personally, I hope this little circle.. this space of (what will be) green in a sea of traffic, will be a nice spot to sit and read, Perhaps, to play. A space in which the kids and I can visit with their daddy for lunch, or wave to him whist we lunch and he toils away in the office above. (Obviously the visit is preferable!)

Anyway, this is a historic type picture. One which I shall reshoot, as time passes, and hopefully, soon, as construction comes to an end, I shall reveal the completed Thomas Circle.

Now you all can wait along with me!

more life, nature

I don't quite know why things like this grab my attention, but they do. Soon I'll get back to posting pictures from DC.

leaves near Lewis Falls

a view, or two, from the top

These were both taken on Bearfence Mountain.

Bearfence ROCKS!

This picture shows the greenrock of Bearfence Mountain. It is like a giant visual of shifted tectonic plates. This rock scramble goes on for quite a bit, and the view up there at 3,640 feet above sea level is spectacular. There is a drop off at the end of these rocks. My family is enjoying the view of the valley below. It is one of the several summits within the park that provide a complete panaramic view. Much of the hike was atop rocks such as these. It was a thrilling experience. I was proud that the kids did so well.

UGH! unsuccessful upload!

I have been trying for a couple of hours now, but blogger is just not accomodating my desire to upload any pictures tonight. I shall try again later.

sun setting in Shenandoah

it's time to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood

I meant to post this on Friday morning, but in my haste to leave town I didn't actually upload the picture. I sincerely apologize for having reneged on my commitment to a daily photo. I'm back now, and will continue once again! I hope you missed me!

We headed to one of the wonderful National Parks not too far from DC. Our favorite 'get-out-of-town' place, Shenandoah National Park.
The photo here is from a previous day trip to Shenandoah.

a rare occurrence

An empty Metro car.

Emergence

Hirshorn Museum

The Hirshorn Museum is yet another of the many wonderful museums of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. The Hirshorn located on the National Mall on Seventh Street SW & Independence Avenue. The Hirshorn is the museum of international modern and contemporary art consisting of the extensive personal collection that Joseph H. Hirshorn donated to the nation in 1966. He later donated $1 million toward the construction of the building. The museum opened in 1974 with a collection of 4000 drawings and paintings and 2000 scuptures. It now owns more than 11,500 works of art.

The building, designed by Gordon Bunshaft, is a circular concrete structure sitting on four massive pillars, fourteen feet above ground, to open to a plaza area, complete with fountain and roll away cafe'. This picture was taken from within the museum, looking out into the inner circle.

Friendship Heights

Today's shot took place in the Friendship Heights' Metro Station.