10-7 A house full of boys

My Oh My, our house is small. I went into work today. Kate took the boys for a walk - not much else. The big event was that Gavin figured out how to get out of the Peapod tonight. He was in the office and we heard him rustling around, and out he pops with a giggle and runs over to jump on the couch. The Peapod zips up with the zipper pulls on the outside - he had figured out that he could poke his finger between the two pulls and slide one down and escape. Cleaver boy! Kate fixed it - she tied the pulls together loosely with a bag tie. While we were figuring out what he had done, he was out in the living room sampling Kate's beer - we came back to the living room to find him prancing around say YUCK and hanging his tongue out. The other two had a really hard time staying downstairs and sleeping.

Sal came by for a visit. Uncle Sal loves his boys. And the feeling is returned.

Fortunately, I don't plan on working tomorrow.

10-6 Kate and boys arrive

Kate and the four grandkids, Aiden, Sean, Gavin and Malcolm, 8,5,2,0.5 arrived today for their three week visit. They got in at about 10pm - Kate did the trip all by herself - amazing! Sean did a run all the way down the walkway to greet Grandma - most gratifying. And then turned around and ran back through security! Gavin ran down then also. Aiden was helping Kate handle the two carts and other kids. Malcolm was bundled tightly to Kate's front. We got back to our little house and started to figure out who was going to sleep where. Kate had the second bedroom. We had gotten two blowup beds for Aiden and Shaun and a "PeaPod" for Gavin - this was a miniature tent to sleep in. And we had a portacrib for Malcolm. We finally all got settled down by midnight.

10-3 MOMIX

I first saw a Momix performance in Albuquerque and I thought it was great. Not a fan of modern dance, my appreciation of Momix is surprising, but they put so much imagination into their dances and sets that I will go out of my way to see one. Thus, Sue and I went to the Momix performance at George Mason. Really, really, different. Large puppets, dancers in blackout costumes with glowing patches on their limbs, making all sorts of impossible combinations, visual effects galore. I suppose dance purists think Momix panders to masses, but I think its great. The music was very exotic and I think both Sue and I were hypnotized (or lulled to sleep) in spots. To one and all, if you get a chance to see one, try it.

10-2 DC Gardens

Sue and I took the metro down to Dupont Circle and walked off to the southwest. We first stopped at Dumbarton House. We were a bit confused about the difference between this place and Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, but this was a nice place to visit and see a historic house from the Federalist period.

We walked through a very stately neighborhood, old houses, beautiful gardens, and came to Tudor Place, another of DC's historic gardens. We bypassed the house tour and took the grounds tour instead.

Our final stop was Dumbarton Oaks Garden. I had expected a rather small place, but it is huge and has many side gardens and garden sculpture features. It was really a beautiful place and one that we should go back to in the Spring.

We finished the day by walking back to DuPont Circle and having a very late lunch at Bistrot du Coin. This is a really good restaurant.

A day in the big city!

9-30 NSO

Sue and I decided to drink in some local culture. The NSO presented Beethoven's Ninth, my favorite of all classical music and a work that played a large role in my college experience. The conductor was Christoph Eschenbach and this was his first performance with the NSO. The first work of the night was an extremely odd, dissonant, modern and strange piece by Matthias Pintscher. The composer, a very young person, was there to hear the performance. It seemed most everyone we were seated around smiled politely, applauded and then said to each other, "What was that?". Well, the Ninth was worth it, even if Sue made me sit still and not bounce around in my chair. To me the Ninth is head banging music!

9-25 Harper's Ferry and Sharpsburg

Sue and I took a long postponed trip to see Harper's Ferry and the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Battlefield. It was a warm day but not too humid. The walk down to the Farmer's Market this morning was very pleasant. When we got to the town of Harper's Ferry we found some Civil War re-enactors drilling by the River. Harper's Ferry is at the conjunction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. It is a pretty little place. The Appalachian Trail passes over the Potomac River bridge.

The picture here is of John Brown's "Fort", the building he and his band got cornered in. Harper's Ferry at the time was a huge arsenal and the weapons there were Brown's goal. The Federal government sent R.E.Lee to lead a group of Marines to flush Brown out. We walked up to Jefferson Rock and got a picture of the steeple of the old Catholic Church and the river valley.

Then it was off to Sharpsburg, by the Antietam River, to see the Battlefield. It is a driving destination, sort of like Gettysburg. The view of the open fields across which the two armies marched at and slaughtered one another are disquieting. Pictures here of the "Sunken Road" where the North (Burnside) attacked into a well defended Rebel line and the bridge that the North had to attack three times to get across, with huge losses. One can only wonder why they felt the need to stay on the bridge to cross such a tiny creek.

9-20-2010 A brand new day

So the downside today is that Dan and Paula leave. We really had a good time with them and they are such low-maintenance visitors. The up side is the weather. I have been wearing long sleeve shirts again for about a week now. Brought the two coats home from work last week. Today was the first time I really felt comfortable in my sport coat going into work. Coll breeze in the air - it got warm in the afternoon but still very pleasant. Yes sir! We are into the good time of year.