Today Was Just Another Day, and That's Just the Way It Should Happen

Today was just about like any other weekday over the past year or so.  I put in some miles.  I completed what needed to be done at work.  I'd like to think I followed through on what I said I'd accomplish, and I tried a new sandwich in the work cafeteria since my routine sandwich was sold out.

Anacostia Morning with USS Barry

Even the photo of the Barry this morning very closely resembles what it looked like yesterday. 

We're coming up on the tick of the clock that will mark the end of calendar year 2015 and the beginning of calendar year 2016. There will be some talk of new beginnings and New Year resolutions.  Gym membership will spike, and hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people will stay up till midnight local time to celebrate the passing of a an "old" year and the start of a new one.

I'm happy to report that I finding it vanishingly unlikely that I'll be an active participant in any of that activity. I've learned, albeit far too tardily, that none of those things seem to relate to how life actually works.  I don't have to promise to make a new me in the new year because for an entire calendar year now I've been incrementally pursuing the mastery of the things that I find fulfilling and those things that are most important to me. 

Life really is a series of very small events that either lead to incremental improvement or incremental devolution. The things that are most important are not measured in a time scale associated with years or months, or even weeks. Doing the next right thing on a day for day basis is how things really get done. When I'm lucky, I can narrow my focus to the moment or the second or the blink of an eye that is happening "right now."

I finally heard this lesson and started taking it onboard about three years ago.  Walking has helped me gather the evidence to turn a small amount of faith in this process into a solid belief. Daily practice has allowed me to hone the ability to try to live every day in this manner.

Today marked the beginning and end of important milestones in my life, but those milestones look an awful lot like the milestones from yesterday.  It was another great day, and with any manner of good luck tomorrow will be that way as well.

Easing Back Into a Routine

I don't like to admit it, but I am a creature of habit. While I like to think of myself as adventurous and free thinking, if I am honest about the way things really are, I am most comfortable when operating in a world of small adventures within a routine.  I once again made it through the relative chaos of the Christmas season with the disruption of normally scheduled events and the compression of months worth of expectations down into the space of twenty four to forty eight hours.

The last five days have been surprising, a little unsettling, busy, and even fun, but now that I'm easing back into my more familiar routine, I find that I can feel more centered.  Concentration and appreciation for smaller variances is simpler, and I just feel quite a bit more content. I don't think I'm a grinch, but I'd prefer a more experiential holiday experience than the retail fueled maniacism that the winter festival seems to have become.

All that aside, it's good to ease back into the routine.

Anacostia Morning with the USS Barry

Speaking of routine, I'm happy to report that the ex-USS Barry is still moored in the Anacostia River, and I fully expect it to be there tomorrow as well.  While there seems to be a new pier going in just downriver from this location, the ship is not yet being prepared for it's final tow down the river  from the Washington Navy Yard.

Supreme Court of the United States

As far as people watching, this time of year in Washington, DC yields a sparser set of diversions than the normally bustling metropolis when the Federal Government is truly up and running at full speed. I did receive one of the warmest greetings in reply to what I hope is a friendly salutation offered to just about everyone I pass on the street. My "Howdy" was met with a big smile and a wave from a fellow pedestrian traveller who was taking a break against one of the many wrought iron fences that adorn the front of the numerous rowhouses and townhouses in the vicinity of Capitol Hill. That passing of a greeting and a smile put a spring in my step for the final three miles of the day.

Another good day passes into the books, and another one looms on the horizon if I'm lucky.

Rest Day

No pictures today to accompany this post, and I'm a little disappointed in my inability to capture anything that meets my relatively low criteria for being a sharable grouping of pixels. Be that as it may, I'm chalking today's performance overall to being a day of probably much needed rest.

A cousin of mine brought the following truism to my attention today, and I think that it applies to how today unfolded for me.  She noted that, "What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it's supposed to be." I know that when I started today, I didn't think I would only get in about four miles of walking and scalp about nine miles off a hard earned cushion.  It was not a disastrous result, but it did leave me feeling a bit disappointed.  That's the picture in my head that was clearly not accurate earlier this morning.

I did manage to complete the rest of what's become my daily practice, and that's re-set my outlook a bit.  It leads me to chalk up the lack of photography and the relatively short walk as a much needed day of rest. I'm looking forward to see what tomorrow will hold.

Optimistic Awakenings

Today we caught the early morning showing of "Star Wars Episode VII...The Force Awakens," and from my perspective the film lives up to it's substantial billing. The movie was excellent and will introduce a whole new generation to the epic odyssey that I was first introduced to in the late 1970's.  The story line from the original trilogy holds together nicely, and though the technology of movie making has grown substantially over the intervening twenty eight years, there did not appear to be too much reliance on computer generated graphics and animation.  I'm sure it was there, but the blending of real world scenery, animatronics, and computer generated effects gave the newest installment the same feel as the original movies.  The film is a well done and worthy successor to the original cannon.

A movie like this sparks the imagination, and kicked off what turned out to be a good long day on the trail as well as an optimistic series of reflections fed by the overlying audio of TED Talks on the Future.  It did not hurt that the weather was more consistent with early springtime temperatures in the low 70's with more than a hint of blue sky shining through the occasional clouds.

Fitch Bridge over College Creek looking North toward Hospital Point

I have grown to appreciate the chance that these long walks give me to reflect on my environment, my evolving role in the world, and the optimism with which I am more able to look forward (though not too far forward) into the future. Walking is a world that, by its nature, is defined by the next short steps. It's a world where you can look to the horizon and imagine what it is going to be like when you get there, but the horizon is many steps and minutes, if not hours, away. The only way to get there is to take one next step over and over again. In this manner, you can make progress, but you are better served not getting too far ahead of yourself and looking back has limited utility as well.  It is good to glance over your shoulder now and then to make sure the weather isn't indicating a pending requirement for more appropriate clothing, but that's about the end of the utility there.

Hospital Point on a glorious Winter Day

Today, I covered just over seventeen miles, and I did that distance over ground that was never more than about two miles as the foot falls from my starting location. I covered the same general  between one and four times, and I never got bored. As the day wore on, the environment ebbed and flowed just enough to always keep things interesting. I'm also growing to appreciate covering the same ground time and time again because it forces me to stay in tune with the way the world is unfolding around me. Nothing is ever so static as to preclude a sense of wonder if I'm open to the possibility of being surprised and the opportunity to observe and learn something new.

College Creek Sunset

I wrapped up the day with another unique sunset that left me with a sense of warmth and connection to the palette of the universe.  It was another great day on the trail, and I hope to have another one that's similar but completely unique tomorrow.

Expanding Horizons

Today, listening to a TED Talk from 2009 during my afternoon ambulation, I was introduced to Singularity University.  This center for continuing and higher education was established in 2009 as a partnership between Google and the NASA Ames laboratory.  I like to think of myself as pretty well connected, but this is definitely a new and interesting topic for me.

I've written a little about why I started walking, and the practice has most definitely expanded my horizons in a much greater manner than I ever imagined that it might. For one thing, I imagined that the whole idea of walking longish distances was rooted in shrinking my world down to the one meter diameter in my immediate vicinity. In the physical world, the practice has most certainly done that to a degree, but the expansive nature of taking the time to reflect and contemplate on my role in the world is not something that I ever imagined would be a byproduct of the time spent on the road.

Automobile Bridge across College Creek

I don't know where all this is leading, but it feels to me like it's leading me in the direction that I should have been headed all along. My mind has opened to opportunities that I never imagined existed. As the asphalt passes under my feet, I find myself dreaming of adventure again. That feeling is something that's eluded me over the last several years, and it is fulfilling to see a glimmer of that vision begin to return.

It was a great day, and I look forward to the gift of another.

Merry Christmas 2015

Christmas Day is always a bit hectic, but today things went reasonably well.  I took some relative down time from walking, but I covered the distance I need to finish pretty well on the month.  We went through the standard Christmas activities including gift exchanges as well as dinner. The dogs, cats, kids, and more dogs got into the mix.  There was singing, dancing, movie watching, gift opening, grilling, roasting. boiling, steaming, baking, mixing, serving, biking, and even walking.

One of the most interesting things that happened actually occurred yesterday.

Union Station lit up for Christmas

Google delivered this enhanced photo to my "inbox" yesterday, and it is the one I used today for my social media postings.  I actually took this photo on 08 Dec 2015, and apparently the enhancement was held by Google until Christmas Eve.  I think that kind of processing power is pretty remarkable, and the delivery of the photo just in time to add to the Christmas celebratory atmosphere is a nice touch.

The weather cooperated reasonably well during my afternoon walk which ended up being the 1000th activity recorded in my exercise application and the only deliberate activity that I recorded today.

Hospital Point Trail

The wind was down as evidenced by the calm water and the fog was laying in on top of the river.  You may be able to tell that the trail looks like it may have been visited by a large herd of vegan felines that have clearly been eating their daily dose of fiber.  These are actually the leavings of Canada geese. I've actually come to think of these creatures as cats with wings due to their relatively indiscriminate hygiene habits.  The geese have been remarkable in their absence, but over the last week or so they've been turning up in ever greater numbers.  Last winter, their arrival heralded the arrival of the cold, and it will be interesting to see if that construct remains in tact.

Fitch Bridge over College Creek

Although it is relatively monochrome, I really like the way this panorama turned out this afternoon. I indeed have a Merry Christmas and now that the chaos has subsided just a little bit, I'm looking forward to getting some quality rest (while still staying active) over the next several days.

Christmas Eve 2015

I've got to be spritely to get this post in today because I've been busy, and I still have about an hour to go. As far as walking goes, today was a little damp and gray, but the temperature was up in the high 60's.  It's pretty warm for this time of year, and that's being attributed to the ENSO Cycle, or El Nino. It will be interesting to see this winter develop.  If I remember correctly, the Christmas of 1995 was in the 60's and by early January the temperature had dropped into the teens and we had five inches of snow on the ground.  Later that winter in March, I experienced my first, and only, ever sub-zero temperature with even more snow and ice.

Today was not that day, and I finished pretty strong with just, and I mean just, over a half marathon distance in the books.  This morning, I did the six bridges route and managed to capture this photo with four of the six bridges visible from one location.

Four Bridges over College Creek

I also captured a view from the bridge over Spa Creek.

Spa Creek with Saint Mary's

Finally, this was the view today looking south on the Severn River from the Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. Bridge.

Severn River looking South with USNA on the rigth

The days are getting grayer, and it's clear that we're creeping toward "The Dark Ages" with a little more vigor. Even though the colors begin to wash out this time of year, the vistas are still pretty interesting.  Looking forward to another winter out on the trail.

Last Day of Work Before Christmas

Today was my last paid day of work before Christmas this year, and as might be expected the actual work involved was rather light.  I was able to get some walking done, and some photos to document that walking that I'll share with you now.

Anacostia Morning with the ex-USS Barry

One day relatively soon, I'm going to show up in DC and the ex-USS Barry will have left her berth that she's spent the last thirty odd years occupying.  Until then, I intend to make her a regular feature that's documented here.

Capitol Building Rising into the Fog

Progress on removing the scaffolding from the dome of the Capitol has paused over the last several days, but one day soon I'm looking forward to showing you the United States Capitol in all her naked glory.  Until then, this will be another fairly regular feature of the blog.  Honestly, because of my morning and afternoon walking routes and a shocking lack of creativity, this will probably be a fairly regular feature long after the nudity of the dome is unveiled.

Capitol Building rising into the Fog

This may be one of my favorite panoramic shots of the Capitol of all time.  The spire of "Freedom" rising into the mist coupled with the fiery forges of Sauron peeking out through the windows in the Senate side of the building is both intriguing and menacing all at the same time.

Look Closely....Do you see them?

I stumbled across this pair of albino squirrels on the mall during my morning walk.  I was not feeling motivated at all this morning, and I was really dragging my feet.  I almost didn't make it down this far on the Mall on a couple of occasions, but I am really grateful that I slowed down and made the journey.

Albino Squirrels on the Mall

Here's a shot with a bit better contrast.  Seeing two of these squirrels romping around together felt a bit rare and special.  Since DC is the home of a concentration of albino squirrels, it probably isn't all that rare, but it sure felt like it today.

Another great day as the year winds down.

A Touch of Fatigue and Cautiously Optimistic News

A wonderful thing happened this morning.  I woke up and was granted another sunrise.

Anacostia River Morning with the USS Barry

I also finally received the news that Mr. C is out of surgery and as far as anyone knows things have gone as well as can be expected.  This experience has convinced me that announcing major medical procedures on Facebook is not something that I'll be pursuing for myself.  It does have the advantage of speed in getting the word disseminated quickly, but I would be lying if I didn't admit to a little anxiety associated with the waiting leading up to the latest report.  Not for me, but I understand why people might want to do things this way.

I am tired.  The half marathon average days are taking their toll.  Fortunately, I'm not really dealing with any muscle or joint fatigue, but more of an overall sense of energy expended and want to take about a five hour nap tomorrow morning after I wake up for first breakfast kind of tired.

Being tired is not a bad feeling.  Actually, it imparts a sense of accomplishment, but I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open right now.  I'll take that as a sign from the universe to get some rest.  Once again, I'm looking forward to the hope of another day tomorrow to be given the opportunity of putting some more miles under my feet.

Contemplating Mortality and the Role of Prayer

Today, the sun rose on the Anacostia River just as it has from the beginnings of the sun and the river occupying the same general area of space and time.

Sunrise on the Anacostia

Like every other sunrise before it, observed from this spot in space and time, this one was a unique gift that I had the privilege of witnessing.  If I am granted the gift of living to be one hundred and twenty years old, I will have been gifted the opportunity to witness an sunrise that is similar to this one, but totally unique 43.380 times.  That is really not that many sunrises, and I've expended over a quarter of them already.

I'm thinking about mortality because today I worked my way through most of the TED Talks that have been categorized as being related to death, and I received a request for prayer for a friend of mine's father who will be facing multiple bypass surgery tomorrow.

As for my choice to listen to educated people speak on the topic of death, I really have no real explanation other than I'm beginning at the front of the alphabetical index of TED Talks and listening to all of the talks that have an audio only recording in a given area that strikes my curiosity.  I've worked my way up to the letter 'D' so far and this is the next topic to draw my attention. The talks, like all TED Talks I've listened to so far are mostly interesting and always thought provoking. The general theme is one of finding a better way of accepting the normal process of mortality and a number of arguments about why and how this can be approached.

The prayer request, given the potential seriousness of the procedure that my friend's father is facing tomorrow seemed to mesh with the overall theme.  Honestly, I don't know how to respond to these calls for supernatural intervention when they come across social media like Facebook. I can't bring myself to push the "like" radio button, but I do feel compelled to reach out to my friend or acquaintance in response to their request that I entreat a higher power in support of their request for help. It's at this point, the point of wanting to respond, but not quite knowing what to say that I become a bit stuck.

Today, the request said, "Friend, my daddy will have multiple bypass a 6 tomorrow morning. Please pray for him and my mom!"  This request as of this writing has gotten 63 "likes" and 60 "comments."  One of the comments is mine, and I certainly didn't hit the "like" radio button, so I don't quite know what to make of those numbers. I ended up replying with "Done" although that leaves me a little cold and distant.

Part of my problem is that I have come to believe that prayer (and meditation) really represents an effort to grow closer to a higher power whose will is shaping the broad trends of our lives. I believe that the journey we are all called to in one fashion or the other is bringing our own will into alignment with the will of the greater power that surrounds us and having the strength and knowledge to glimpse and carry out the purpose that is laid before us by doing the next right thing moment by moment. I believe that seeking to understand the will of the greater power and having the strength and fortitude to play my small role in in the creation of that purpose is about the only thing that I should ask of that power. Anything more is probably an attempt to manifest my own will on a situation that far exceeds my ability to shape. This belief that prayer for knowledge and strength only is in conflict with my own will to shelter my friend for the pain of possible unwanted outcomes.  That's why I don't know how to respond. I don't know how to say that surrender is the only way I've found effective a coping with the fear and anxiety that this sort of situation can generate.

My friend, their daddy, and their mom are in my thoughts tonight. I want very fervently for things to work out successfully tomorrow in that operating room, and Mr. C to be granted some more sunrises to witness. I hope that I'm granted a sunrise or two in order to bear witness to the outcome. I hope that whatever may come finds my friend surrounded by love because that will make whatever comes better.

Standard Sunday

I used the walk this morning to head out to the mother-in-law's house and see how she was faring.  She'd gotten new glasses, modified a kitchen cabinet that I did not notice, and had me help her walk the dogs.  I also participated in the troubleshooting of an electrical switch and narrowed the problem down to the the time function of the switch and suggested what I hope is a safe way to continue to use the fixture until she can get the timer portion of the switch replaced.  In other words, a pretty standard Sunday.

This afternoon, I headed out for a shorter walk around my usual haunts, and I was able to capture some pretty nifty photos of the sky and shoreline being reflected in the still water of a local creek.

College Creek on a very still day

Today was the coldest day that we've had up to this point this winter.  It was certainly colder earlier in February, but for this round, the clear sky coupled with an arctic advance and dropped the temperature this morning to around 22 degrees Fahrenheit. The air stayed pretty chilly all day, but thankfully there was little wind as the glass calm water demonstrates.

College Creek Sunset

Though not the most spectacular sunset I've seen, I was struck by the number of contrails that appeared in this photo.  I count at least ten, and it's possible that I missed one or two of these aviation ghosts.  Lot's of folks headed out on travel to kick off the holiday season, I suppose.

Overall another great day with new and wonderful things to experience.

Something to Do While Walking

Walking is its own reward.  Through my walking over the last year I believe I've become more observant and less critical.  I've embraced the concept that there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.  I have a much better idea what people living on the street have to face, and I've gained a higher level of empathy for their circumstances.  I've learned to appreciate finding a bathroom, a cool drink, and the little chemical hand warming pouches.  I've gotten to see things that I never imagined even existed in the neighborhood where I live and where I work.  I've been accidentally caught up in a Mardi Gras parade.

One of the more beneficial aspects of walking is that I've found extra time that I never knew existed.  I'm not quite sure what I was doing with this time before...probably watching television or something equally unproductive.  Having this gift of time gives me the space to create something to do while walking.  Some of this time...actually quite a lot of it, I've spent talking to Rory Conlan.  I've spent a fair amount of time on the phone with other people.  I've listened to some music, and recently, I've been listening to the extensive library of TED Talks.

Street Art Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe in Annapolis, MD

Today, I was listening to a talk by Louie Schwartzberg titled "Nature. Beauty. Gratitude." given at a TEDx conference in San Francisco, CA.  Mr. Schwartzberg is a nature photographer who specializes in taking time-lapse photos nature, but that's not really captured my attention. What really grabbed me was the gist of a project that he was working on in 2011 that dealt with the gratitude of living in the moments that make up a single day.  One of the narrators pointed out the unique nature of every moment. That when we open our eyes, hearts, and minds there are endless things that enrich our lives and make mindfulness of gratitude an easy and natural state of mind.

My shadow on the trail...feeling grateful

To open my eyes and observe is to break the bonds of generalization.  Weather becomes what's happening in the moment rather than something to be clinically described by a weather predictor on the television.  The currents in the air, the moisture or dryness, the clouds in the sky that show apparently endless variation, or the nature of a particular rain.  They're always different and always interesting. This talk I was listening to reaffirmed the sense of wonder that's come back into my life since I hit the trail a little over a year ago.

A Water Tower and the Sky - Annapolis, MD

Observing the day like it is the first I've ever seen and the last I may ever see is the sense of wonder that I relearned while out on the trail. Looking back, I'm not sure when that lesson began to sink in and I began to recapture that sense of wonder we're all naturally born with, but somehow, seems to fade with the intervening years.  By recapturing the wonder of life, the gratitude for the gift of the experience seems to naturally rush back into my consciousness, and a sense of contentment and happiness follows closely in its wake.

It was another great day, and I hope for the privilege of another tomorrow.

Wrapping up the Week

It's been a pretty long and tiring week.  It's the good kind of tiring, and not exhaustion.  I'll keep this short and let some photos speak for themselves.

Early Morning, USS Barry

My morning string of panoramas was broken this morning when Google delivered this stylized photo.  It's not my favorite, but it's at least interesting.

US Capitol Building

I'm not quite sure what the person in the foreground of the photo is doing, but since it was the afternoon, this is a pretty rare shot with people.

USS Barry in the afternoon

Not to be denied, I got the panorama I was looking for this morning just a little bit later.

It's been a great day to wrap up a great week.

Wednesday Gratitude Week 1

During my brief meditation practice this evening, the thought crossed my mind of a number of things that I am truly grateful for having crossed my path.  The practice of documenting gratitude has been suggested to me in the past, and to date I have managed to skirt that recommendation.  My reasons for skirting that recommendation are not very defensible, so tonight I'll embark on what I plan to make a weekly habit on Wednesdays of documenting things that I am grateful for experiencing.

Anacostia River just before Sunrise

I am grateful that no one is reading this journal because it saves me from having to explain the reasons for including a photo of the same scene day after day. The reasons are multifaceted, but it all boils down to the feeling that it something that I should be doing right now without really knowing why that particular idea has stuck with me.

I'm grateful that the idea of walking long(ish) distances that developed about four years ago was eventually translated into action. The rationalization for that action at the time was to convince myself that what I was thinking about was not a very good idea. The thinking was a compulsion. The action has turned into one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to date.

I'm grateful for my relationship with Rory Conlan.  I wish at times he'd take a more active role in documenting our shared journey over the last several years, but I know he has his own reasons for delaying that action and I have faith that his participation in this shared journey is unfolding just as it should be unfolding.

I'm grateful for second (and third and fourth chances) of trying to get the complications of truly living down correctly. I have been fortunate enough to have been born into a very setback tolerant culture where taking risk is actually encouraged more than it's punished.  I've come to believe this is one of the true "secrets" to achieving what externally looks like success in this society. It also is an enabler of true success that may or may not align with the commonly accepted definition.

Capitol Building with Freedom being loosed from her scaffolding confinement

I'm grateful that I can stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before me.  Those bold men and women forged the great cities, states, counties, and country out of a vast and imposing wilderness and have facilitated my access to wealth and knowledge and opportunity that was beyond the wildest imagination they might have had when they built the framework from which this bounty flowed forth.

It's another great day, and I'm grateful to have lived it.

Three Things

There are only three things that made the cut for documentation today.  The first will be a familiar sight, since once again I captured the Anacostia sunrise with the ex-USS Barry "front and center."

Anacostia Sunrise with the ex-USS Barry as the Centerpiece

I discussed briefly yesterday that one of the reasons I take pictures of this view is because I routinely get pretty good results from my efforts. This reason was wearing a little thin, so today I invented a further justification. Sometime in the next several months the ex-USS Barry is going to depart the waterfront of the Washington Navy Yard permanently. Capturing relatively frequent photos of the ship in the lead up to the ship's departure for the scrappers may prove to be an interesting pictorial history of the ship's last days.  If printed, it would probably sell at least twelve copies.  In all seriousness, I suspect that I'm the only one doing this documentary of sorts, and it may prove to be of some interests to a very narrow group of Barry aficionados.  Since it's not out of the way that the pictures turn out pretty good, I'll continue this quest going forward and document the results here.  I'll probably leave out the commentary going forward because it is making my writing fall into an anti-creative rut so it's probably not as useful to me to continue to lean on this crutch.  Pictures only from now on with limited commentary unless something truly extraordinary catches my attention.

The second point is that today I learned that NASA is accepting applications through the USAJobs Federal hiring website for a position as an astronaut candidate (ASCAN).  I am going to apply. If anyone else reading this is interested, here is the link to the application. It's a crazy notion really and I'm on the old side of the age bell curve for this type of thing, but as soon as I learned the positions were being advertised and the timing lined up with another life event or two I knew it had to be done.

Space is one of those frontiers (not the final frontier I don't think, but one that beckons more urgently with every trip of the earth around the sun) that begs to be explored.  Manned spaceflight dovetails nicely with walking in my mind due to the exploratory and persistent nature that it takes to progress in such activities. The last time NASA picked an astronaut class was 2013, and they had over 6,000 applicants.  They made 8 selections. I suspect that given the heavy PR push that's accompanying this announcement that the number of candidates will be even higher this time around.  The odds of success are vanishingly small of actually being selected, but I know that I'll regret it if I don't throw my hat in the ring.

Finally, on my evening walk I noticed that the top tiers of the scaffolding on the Capitol Building had been removed.

Moon over the Capitol as the scaffolding surrounding the Statue Freedom being removed

I knew that the external portion of the restoration project to preserve and repair the iron dome of the Capitol Building was scheduled to complete sometime this winter, but the shrouded dome has become such a feature of my walks in Washington, DC that the realization of this progress caught me by surprise. I've looked forward to seeing this happen and now that the process has taken a visible step forward, my anticipation is growing to see the building without the gauzy accoutrements I've become familiar with.

All in all, another fantastic day.

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

It is not difficult to find plenty of discussion about stepping out of your comfort zone.  These is advice on why you should do it, how you should do it, quotes on doing it, and why you might not want to do it.  Google returned over 130,000 pages of search results in less than a second.

Today during my early walk, when my feet and back were hurting for reasons that I have yet to understand, I came to the realization that stepping outside of my comfort zone results in discomfort from time to time. Now, Rory is fond of saying that "physical discomfort is only important if your attitude is wrong." I'm inclined to agree with him on this sentiment, but it is worth noting that by its definition a step from the comfort zone is likely to lead to a little discomfort.  

That's alright, and the clear course of action is to keep stepping because your comfort zone will expand to fill your experiences for the most part.  It's just tougher to keep stepping in reality compared to the theory of resilience you had in your head when you were imagining it.

Anacostia Sunrise with the ex-USS Barry Front and Center

I did manage to push through this morning, albeit at a slower pace than I would have liked), and the afternoon walk, counterintuitively to me, was a much more comfortable experience.

I did go ahead and capture another shot of an Anacostia Sunrise with the ex-USS Barry playing a prominent role.  The picture and the composition were familiar and comfortable, and that's just what I needed to put another three brace of miles under the soles of my sneaks.

Monday Repeat

Today, another sixteen miles passed under the soles of my shoes.  With all of that walking, one might assume I came across some new and unusual scenes, but as it happens, I did a repeat of the sunrise and afternoon scenes of the ex-USS Barry from about the same position that I showed you toward the end of last week. As I've opined before, for some reason the same general scenes (on different days of course) keep capturing my attention.  It's probably a lack of creativity on my part.

Be that as it may, here they are.

Sunrise on the Anacostia with the ex-USS Barry front and center

This picture is a little bit darker than the last effort due to the relatively thick cloud cover that portended rain later this afternoon. There was a light breeze and the slight chop, but the reflection again caught my attention.

Afternoon shot of the ex-USS Barry front and center

I tried pretty diligently to take this shot from the same location as the last, but I believe i was one light pole too far away from the Barry in the afternoon shot compared to the morning shot.  Nevertheless, the details in the afternoon are revealed, but the tradeoff is that the gray light somehow makes the afternoon picture less alive and brimming with promise.  The day is a little more worn, but still good.  A little cooler and not quite as alive.

High Milage Sunday

A little bit of early morning tardiness payed off rather handsomely today with a total of just under seventeen miles in the books by the end of the afternoon.  I headed out around 0800, and the start was far too late to take in the full glory of the sunrise, but the view over the river was still rather pleasant.  Once again, the relatively calm winds and reflections off the boat wake waves captured my attention, and I spent a little more time than really necessary trying to capture a good photograph.

Severn River about an hour after sunrise

This is a decent view although the Google panorama resulted in a bit of discontinuity in the waves.  The right hand side of the photo captured the relatively long period swell created by a boat heading up river just a few minutes before, but the overall impression of the photo leaves a little to be desired.  I can assure you that the view in real life was worth the short walk to view it.  The weather was fantastic with temperatures in the mid-50's at this time.  The final high for the day was just below 70 Fahrenheit, so it only got better from here on out.

Severn River a hour after sunrise, Shot #2

The lighting a waves were a tad more cooperative in this photo, but the gist of it all is about the same.  This is the dawning of another great day, and I was there as a witness near the beginning.

Annapolis Harbor with the Annapolis Yacht Club in the background center of the shot

One of my principle goals was the walk over the Eastport Bridge and take a gander at the carnage caused by yesterday's barbeque of the top two floors of the Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC).  It should be noted that I've been walking in downtown Annapolis for over a year now, and Sunday morning is always a relatively tranquil experience until about 1000 at least.  There are usually only a handful of people out and about, and vehicular traffic barely registers on a normal Sunday morning.

Annapolis Yacht Club After the Fire

Today's traffic was a different sort of animal all together.  I've had it in my mind that capturing images that centered on the beauty of the outdoors might one day might encourage folks to take up the mantle of pedestrianism.  Apparently, I've been approaching things incorrectly because while a beautiful sunrise or sunset can be reliably counted on four or five times a week at least, a fire at a yacht club is a relatively rare event.  This one brought out the "tourists" early on a Sunday morning like no sunrise ever has in the past.  In this photo alone there are at least seven folks that have come out to view the damage.  I had to wind my way through a small throng of people to get to this point, and the vehicular traffic was also noticeably denser on the Eastport Bridge.  If one wants to get people outside, one might consider channelling their inner arsonist because the torched building and campfire pall that it cast into the air drew people to it like moths to a flame...so to speak.

Weems Creek Around Noon

I wrapped up this morning's jaunt with a little over twelve miles, and I topped it off in the early afternoon with another hike that came in just under five miles.  It was a great day for walking, and I feel like I accomplished what I set out to cover.

New Territory and Shifting Plans

Today, there was a robotics competition held at a local community college, and that led to an opportunity to explore some relatively new territory on my morning hike.  I've poked around this particular area in the past during sporting tournaments, but this is the first opportunity that I took to really explore the perimeter of the campus with some degree of rigor. Given the time of year, the time of the week, and the general layout of the place, this was perhaps not the most scenic of walks, but I did discover some new places that may bear further engagement in the future.

Anne Arundel Community College Campus from the south hilltop

I do not have a great deal of experience with community colleges, but this particular campus strikes me as a relatively large well funded facility.  The first picture was taken from a hilltop on south perimeter of the campus.  This is the area of the astronomy building, and I was actually surprised to learn that the school had an entire building dedicated to astronomy.  I'm not sure if there was a telescope in the building and it was a little small, but it's heartening to see a dedicated facility to look outward from earth and dream. I harbor hopes that the next generation takes up the mantle of human spaceflight with a renewed interest that seems to have withered to a degree. I believe that it's time to shake off the low earth orbit blues that we've been singing for the better part of four decades and reach farther into our solar system than we have to date.

A Hill that Begs to be Revisited

"Sled at your own risk."  I was surprised to find this sigh at the peak of the best sledding run that I've seen in the county.  It begs to be revisited at the first real snow of the season.  There is ample parking in the area both at the top of the hill and the bottom.  Clearly, there is some hope of speed given the permanent nature of the sigh. The valley to the left of the photo also appears to be a serviceable archery range with some neatly stacked hay bales also begging to be riddled with arrows. This archery problem that I'm looking to solve may manifest itself in the coming weeks and at the very least, a fall back plan has been revealed. More to follow on that little "problem," but there is a potential solution in the offing.

West Campus Courtyard

The robotics competition was held in the building shown to the right of this courtyard, and the building to the left is an arts facility. At the top of the stairs and to the right of the flagpole there is a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial as well.  This was a great area to bask in the warmth of the sixty degree weather we had today, and my male roommates enjoyed tossing a football on the stairs.

Parade of Lights Boats bottled up in the Harbor

This evenings plans shifted a bit because the boats in this photo were supposed to be out on the water participating in the parade of lights. Unfortunately, this event was cancelled by the city because one of the yacht clubs that participates in this event had its primary clubhouse burn pretty extensively in what ended up being a three alarm fire that took a little over three hours to contain.  There was a thin pall of smoke downtown, but the festive mood had not been dampened appreciably, and it looked to me like the boaters were making the best of things by shifting the festivities to the dock rather than out on the water.

Once again, my walking took me to places I would not have likely seen had I not been putting miles under my feet, and another great day has passed into the books.

Frenetic Friday

Rory and I were talking this morning about the unfolding of the holiday season and how our propensity for cramming a fairly large number of what would normally be enjoyable events into a rather compact time frame associated with "the holiday season" works at cross purposes to the relaxing camaraderie that those events should generate.  Today was a little like that, so instead of boring you with the gory details of trying to stuff too much fun into to small of a fun bag I'll let a couple of pictures tell the tale of the more enjoyable parts of the day.

Unsurprisingly, these are photos taken during two of three pedestrian periods I fit in around the baskets of holiday fun.

Anacostia Sunrise

This morning, the stillness of the air was perfect for capturing the reflection of the sunrise and the ex-USS Barry in the surface of the Anacostia River.  If you had asked me to draw or paint this scene a year ago, I strongly suspect that I would not have even noticed the reflections in the water much less been able to capture them in my rendering of the scene.  Today, though I still would struggle with representing the reflections, I definitely notice them all around me.  I attribute this "sensitivity" to observing the reflected directly to the time I"ve spent out on the trail plodding along.  I see reflections everywhere now, and not just while walking.  They are beautiful and exponentially increase the interest of any particular scene in my opinion.  If I hadn't slowed down a little,  I truly believe that in the interest of brevity my brain would have continued to filter this "excess" data being collected through my Mk 1 Mod 0 I-Ball.  I'm glad I slowed down.

Anacostia River Afternoon

On my lunch time amble, I tried to capture the same scene from this morning with afternoon lighting.  I think I did a pretty credible job of it, but I beleive the morning shot was probably taken a little (though not much) farther east than the afternoon shot.

As can be seen by the flag and the wind ripples on the water, the breeze had kicked up, and although I like the afternoon shot the muddied reflections off the water make the scene a little less interesting to me compared to the morning scene.

In spite of the drive to maximize fun to the point of fatigue, today was another enriching experience, and I look forward to another.

The Power of Incremental Progress

Recently, one of the things that I do at the beginning of the morning walk is to listen to TED Talks for about the first mile or mile and a half.  It usually takes about that length of time for Rory to get out and about and walking.  To be fair to him, his time zone is an hour behind mine, so he's out and about at an eye watering early hour.

This morning the topic of the lecture was the lessons that Roz Savage has learned through her practice of ocean rowing.  Ms. Savage is the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. She has covered over 15,000 miles in over 500 days alone on the ocean, and her story is one of inspiration for me.

I sense a kind of kinship between her rowing and my walking.  Clearly, she's taking the bigger risks, but the part of her TED Talk that I especially related to was the power of incremental progress.

Anacostia River Walk Bridge - East Side

When I first started training for the N2N-TCP, I had it in mind to stick with ten miles per day for thirty days because I felt that would be a sufficient amount of time to convince myself that this crazy idea of mine was just that...a crazy idea.

Anacostia River Walk Bridge - West End

The walking was very difficult in the beginning.  I did not have to correct shoes and socks, blisters were a daily struggle, shin splints took a mile to get loosened up, and, since I started in the fall, the weather taught me some tough lessons about what was appropriate clothing and what wasn't.

Through those first thirty days, what I didn't see right away was that from the very beginning, I was making incremental progress.  One short step at a time, I was learning along the way.  That learning hasn't stopped, and instead of convincing me of my own lunacy, walking has become part of what I practice daily and part of my life in a way I never imagined.

There is great power in incremental progress, but that power can only be accessed by taking the first small step and then carrying through to take the next one.

Mark 1 Mod 0 Wednesday - The Best Day of My Life

I'm pretty sure I've told the story of the response this one guy at the gym gives me every time I ask him how things are going.  He says, "This is the best day of my life."  It took me a little while to pick up on the pattern, but after I started picking up what he was laying down, I decided that his statement is both true and very useful.  From the outside looking in, today was a pretty standard Mark 1 Mod 0 Wednesday for me, but even though it felt fairly routine, it was the best day of my life. The past is history, the future a fantasy, but whatever happens right now is just as it should be and pretty glorious.  I wish I hadn't spent this long figuring out that truth, but here we are.

The Google panoramic shots from yesterday finished navigating the ether, and greeted me this morning on my commute into work.

Anacostia Sunset

Not the most spectacular sunset, but the waves from the wake of a boat really caught my eye and caused me to capture the images that made up this view.

United States Supreme Court

I spent some time trying to get the right shots to center up a theoretical panoramic mash-up, and it looks like things turned out about right.  The first panoramic that I captured of the Supreme Court was offset to the right of the picture a little too much for complete satisfaction.  This one is much better I think. This morning at about 0630 there was a larger than usual crowd lining up to attend the oral arguments centered around questions of affirmative action at the University of Texas.  I enjoy the fact that I get to see where the news that I hear on the radio at the end of the day happens.

Capitol Building

I had a really difficult time capturing a good image of the Capitol Building both yesterday and today.  This picture is a pretty far departure from some of the higher quality shots of the past, but it's the best I could get in the bag yesterday.  It's still pretty cool, and I'm still looking forward to the construction staging coming down later this winter.

Capitol Building from the second cross street west on the Mall

I took a little shorter route than my normal walk this morning, and it put me on the second cross street west of the Capitol Building on the Mall.  I had high hopes of being able to capture a good shot of the Capitol Building from a slightly different perspective, but I was thwarted to a degree by the fuzziness of the dome that I've been battling for the last couple of days.  Not bad, but not spectacular either.  

Submarine Sunset

The sun setting behind the submarine sail monument on the Washington Navy Yard has been a favorite view of mine for awhile, but this is the first time I've tried to photograph it for reasons I don't completely understand.  This may become a more regular feature going forward.

Ancostia Sunset

Yet another Anacostia sunset to round out the day, and since I've been plagued with slow photo download response during the missive this evening I'll finish out the best day of my life and I'm looking forward to the next.  It's going to be fantastic.