In Which Christmas Comes to Town

Yesterday, Christmas came to town. I attended the 63rd annual Christmas Parade in the old part of town. It sounded like a fun, holiday-spirit thing to do, and I figured it seemed like a nice small-town kind of tradition. So at 9:30am, I drove into town,parked, and walked to the a spot on the parade route. There were a lot of people. Someone said close to 55,000, and I believe it. I found a spot right near the main stage, where all the dancers and bands stopped to do a 1-minute performance.

Surprisingly, winter also arrived in Virginia the same day as Christmas. At 9:50, I was wishing I had worn warmer socks. At 10:00, I was wishing I had brought heavier mittens. By the time the parade finally started at 10:18, I was downright cold. It was so cold, my digital camera refused to turn on. I have pictures on my cell phone. If anyone can help me figure out how to send them to the computer, I'd appreciate it. Then I can show you the parade.

It was very cool. There were over 100 groups marching, and at least 1/3 had floats. There were some really fun ones, like the one made by a middle school orchestra with broken instruments and Christmas packages. There were several dance troupes dressed in sparkly leotards and tights, shivering their way through their dance number. There was the Budweiser Clydesdales, which are really big. "Big" does not begin to describe how massive those animals are. The mayor marched. The local senator marched. There were men driving Harley-Davidsons decorated with tinsel and and Santa Clauses. There were two balloons. Marching bands in full regalia wearing Christmas elf-ear hats. The crowd was fun too, lots of families and children. bundled up in layers of lumpy coats and blankets, and everyone saying "hi" to each other and greeting people they knew in the parade. Stores lining the main street were all open and serving hot chocolate or coffee and cookies, enticing people to step in and warm up, and maybe do a little Christmas shopping.

I couldn't stay to the end. It got to the point where I couldn't get warm even in a store. I left just before noon, and the parade was only about half finished. Next year, I will dress warmer and bring a blanket. What a fantastic local event! The only thing that would have been better is if my family and friends could have been there too. Wishing you all happy holidays.

In Which I See the Capitol Building

Today I went into D.C. to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. (I must say that the Metro system is really convenient. The biggest problem is living 30 minutes away from it.) The weather was supposed to be rainy all day, but though it was certainly quite gloomy, there was a brief time when it was almost sunny. I took advantage of this and went to see the Capitol Building, which is about 1/2 mile from the museums. It was strange to see it in real life. I've seen it on tv and in movies, and there I was, seeing it for real.

I went to the Air and Space Museum, which was fantastic! First of all, it's free. Secondly, it has all these replicas of various space shuttles and stations. There is so much to see and so many buttons to push! I love pushing buttons. There also was a big exhibit about the history of stewardesses, complete with a panel of visiting retired stewardesses from the 60's. I must say, some of the uniforms from that era were crazy --- pink mini-skirts with paisley hot pants, orange ponchos, bright yellow mini-dresses.... Yikes! Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, it was impressive.


I also went to the Freer Gallery. It has a large collection of paintings by Whistler, of Whistler's Mother fame. It does not actually have that painting however, which I believe is in Paris. It also had a room Whistler's Peacock Room. Only at the Smithsonian would there be an entire room devoted to decaying green velvet, gilded peacocks murals, and shelves of blue Chinese pottery. I think it would have been more impressive 5 hours earlier in the day. The Japaneses screens were really quite beautiful, though, and I could have sat and looked at them for hours. I was also impressed by the variety and quality of Asian art exhibited. There were some exquisite pieces.

In Which I Walk with Ghosts

I went on a ghost walk last night. It was kind of a fun idea. I got to walk around the old part of town with guides from the museum, all dressed up in costumes. The stories weren't great. Or maybe it was the story teller, who seemed very unsure of herself. But it was still a nice evening to walk around and see some of the old buildings. Apparently when Siam first opened to the West, the king of Siam sent his sons to a school in this area. That had nothing to do with ghosts, but it was one of those little factoids I picked up.

Today I went to a wildlife refuge on the Potomac River. There are some pictures of it in this post. It was a nice day to be out. Temerature in the low 60's. Trees starting to change color. I got bit by a black fly, though. Ouch! For an area with so many new developments, and people practically falling over each other because it's so crowded, there are a lot of national parks and wildlife habitats.

In Which I take in Some Culture

Over the weekend, I went to the Kennedy Center to go to a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra. I made it downtown using the metro, and found the shuttle that runs right to the Kennedy Center every 15 minutes. It was easy. I got to see Watergate Towers on the way. It looks like it does on tv. Then I was there! It's big. It's impressive. There is a big hall with flags of nations hanging. There is a huge bust of JFK. Actually, it's kind of a scary bust of JFK but I didn't want to say anything. It kind of looks like his skin is peeling off from a weird nuclear disaster.

The concert was Beethovan Piano Concerto #4 with Helene Grimoud as guest, and Shostokovich 5th. Our seats were in the chorister loft, above the stage behind the orchestra. It's weird to look down on the conductor. I could see his every expression. We sat above the low brass, so the Shostokovitch was quite a treat, though a little unbalanced. I don't think I would buy tickets in that locatio often, but once in a while, it's kind of fun to be able to watch the audience.

In Which I Explore the Civil War

Today the weather is sunny and in the high 70's. I'm not used to it. It should be frosty and gray. It's the middle of September, so I expect the leaves to be changing and to wake up to frost. Instead, I am lured outdoors by the sunny mild weather. It was hard to be at school this week when the weather was so nice.

In between filling out paperwork for the mandatory orientation session I have to attend on Thursday for work, and trying to organize my apartment in some fashion, and making data tracking forms for my students, I went out. I found the local farmer's market, which was great! It's small, but has a wide variety of produce. I look forward to going weekly.

I also spent two hours exploring the Manassas National Battlefield Park. It's only $3 for admittance to the museum and tours, and the park is free. I took one of the guided walking tours, and learned that this park was the site of the famous Battle of Bull Run. It was odd to stand on the spot where Stonewall Jackson earned his name, where the first major skirmish of the Civil War was fought, and where later there was another, much bloodier, battle. (For accuracy's sake, I believe the guide said the second battle was fought in a slightly different location) The park is really very lovely, with lots of rolling hills and trees. I took a lot of pictures that I will post eventually.