A Relatively Rare Weekend DC Amble

Having a Saturday free of structured activities, the path was clear to participate in a Saturday Morning Mindfulness session hosted at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church.  That presented the opportunity to get in a relatively rare weekend ramble in Washington, DC.  Being a creature of habit, the path followed was about the same as my morning ambulations, but the big difference was that things were open and the daylight revealed some new experiences as well.

In the past, attempts have been made to wander through the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden  only to be thwarted by the relatively sleep deprived guard.  Today, victory was achieved by walking through during normal visiting hours.

Selection of the Sculptures at the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

There are some fairly intricate bronze sculpture work in the garden, and I'm glad I finally got a chance to meander through, but I think that a friend of mine is doing work that's at least as good as what's on display here, albeit in a different style and medium.  I makes me wonder how the art that's displayed is selected and who determines just what is good enough for enshrinement on the National Mall.  There may be more on this topic later, but we'll have to see how things shake out.

The autumn weather came out in full glory, and the views along the Anacostia River Walk were quite striking as well.

Anacostia Riverwalk Bridge from Different Angles

This collage was cobbled together from several different views of the Anacostia Riverwalk Bridge.  The shots on the right of the collage were taken from the back side of the waterfall that feeds the wading pool. The winter will soon set in, and the water will be drained from this feature until next spring if history is any guide, so it was fantastic to get to shoot these pictures on such a clear and well let day.

The afternoon saw me back in Annapolis, and the following shot is one that once again Google has worked their considerable magic to enhance.  If you look closely, there is a long line of midshipmen that are marching in front of Alumni hall in the middle distance of this photo.  They appeared to be returning from maneuvers on the other side of the Severn River.  I don't know if they enjoyed their Saturday afternoon pedestrian activities as much as I did.  Probably not.  I wouldn't have a couple of decades ago, but looking back on it all now, they should have been revelling in the opportunity.

Midshipmen on the March in Front of Alumni Hall

The "Dark Ages" have not yet sunk their cold gray fangs into the land, but it's coming.  I've seen this movie before.  For now, it's enough to experience a glorious autumn day.

Getting Settled Back Into my Mid-Atlantic Base of Operations

Pretty good day putting miles underneath the sneaker soles today.  Total distance ended up being just a bit over fourteen miles with a bit more than four of that jogging.  My legs are feeling pretty strong, and the
Generation VI (eleven pairs of shoes total since Generation I only had one pair represented) pairs of Saucony Guide 7 shoes are nearing the end of their useful service lives.

The day started out right with a six mile jaunt around Capitol Hill that culminated in the opportunity to watch the sun rise over the Washington Navy Yard and the Anacostia River.

Sunrise over Washington Navy Yard, DC, and the Anacostia River

If my understanding is correct, the ex-USS Barry will probably not be moored here for very much longer. A drawbridge is being replaced with a fixed span bridge, and before the work begins the ship must be removed. 

Wikipedia told me just now based on a couple of minutes of quick research on Google, that I've mischaracterized the bridge that's being replaced as a drawbridge, and the correct term of the art is swing bridge.  In fact, the particular bridge I'm talking about is the South Capitol Street swing bridge, and it is named the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge that has its own Wikipedia entry that briefly describes the replacement project as well as mentions the ex-USS Barry removal required because the ship's air draft will leave it landlocked after the fixed span bridge is constructed.  The project is set to commence in FY16.

There was a Capitol Hill out and back walk of a little over four miles, and then an afternoon jog with some associates from work that clocked in at a little more than four miles as well.

It has been a pretty long time since the last time I chalked up a half marathon distance in one day, and I'm feeling grateful that the weather was spectacular, the scenery inspiring, and the rhythm of the walk keep me moving at an aggressive pace...for me anyway.  It's good to be back to the old stomping grounds.

Midday Flying

Flights that are early in the morning or later in the evening seem to be the most conducive to producing decent pictures in the airports.  Early, the day hasn't started, so planes can pretty reliably counted on to run on time.  Later in the evening, the chaos of the day has unfolded, planes are running late, but somewhere in the airport you can usually find a vista that provides a pretty good view of the sunset with some relatively interesting things going on in the foreground.

Midday travel didn't work out that way today.  Flights were late which led to rushing across the airport to make connections.  The sunset was missed by about an hour or so, and slightly washed out pictures were the result.  Even some of the backdrops that appear in the beginning and the end of the day (airplanes at the terminal) were busily employed elsewhere.

C'est la vie.

Here are the panoramas that resulted from midday flying.

Empty Gate - Mobile International Airport

The Aircraft Arrives, Late - Mobile International Airport

Mechanical Issues Being Resolved - Charlotte International Airport

Too Early to Capture the Sunset - Charlotte International Airport

It sounds a bit like there is some whining afoot.  That's probably a little true.  It was a bit of a hectic travel day, but I'm grateful I'm home and I'm grateful that I didn't have to drive the 1200 miles or so that the air travel saved me.  At the end of the day, my expectations of safe and mostly reliable scheduling have been met.  There was also the opportunity to consume two airport sandwiches.  They were actually pretty good...if you ignored the cost.

Sunrise on the Trail

Another apparently non-eventful day in the books.  I did get to talk for an hour with a friend of mine that I haven't talked to in a while on my evening walk.  It was a good talk as we discussed the hidden troubles and challenges that to a degree haunt us all.

This morning the rain pretty thoroughly drenched me during the first half mile or so, but the weather was kind enough to clear up and allow me to capture a photo of the rising sun on the trail...literally.  The trees were high enough that I couldn't see the sunrise directly, but the reflection in the puddle on the trail let me know it was there and the seemingly constant procession of orbital mechanics hadn't failed me yet.

Sunrise on the Trail - Daphne, AL

I think I've noted it before, but walking has awakened me to the fantastic richness that reflected light brings into my life if I'm observant enough to notice it.

The view made the soaking of the rain worth every drenching minute.

Sunrise and a Toad

Today during my morning walk the sun rose in the eastern sky as it normally does at the predicted time of day.

Sunrise over Daphne, AL

This evening, long after sunset, I glanced down and noticed a toad near the edge of the Eastern Shore Trail on the hill leading up from Gator Alley.

Toad on the Eastern Shore Trail

Sometimes that's just how the day goes.  You see sunrise and a toad, and that's just fine with me.

A Missed Opportunity

Picture taking today was a bit constrained by the darkness in which my pedestrianism was practiced.  I did run across a sign that piqued my interest.  I have never seen anything quite like this, and I wonder what sort of testing warrants this sort of warning.

Unusual Signage in Spanish Fort, AL

This post would be much shorter if, after seeing this sign, I hadn't made an error that cost me a missed opportunity later in the walk along the Eastern Shore Trail through Daphne, AL.

Some background is probably in order to set the stage for a hasty and unthoughtful mistake that cost me an opportunity to practice some of the philosophy that got me out on the trail in the first place.  One of my fanciful imaginings before actually setting out on the practice of pedestrianism was that walking would afford me the opportunity to meet and interact with interesting people.  Now while this is not an untrue aspect of the walking completed to date, the circumstances for that interaction have not manifested themselves in accordance with my projections.

My imagination pictured walking a trail or a road and coming upon a like minded individual following a similar path to mine.  One of us would slow to the pace or speed up to the pace of the other and we'd exchange stories of the road and life...experiences seen in the and hoped for during our future travels.  After over a year of walking every day, the truth of the matter is that this has only happened to me once if you discount the walking and talking I've done with Rory. The one time that the interchange I imagined was going to happen was in downtown Mobile, just across the river from the encounter today, and I managed to turn a homeless man's attempt (successful in the end by the way) at panhandling into about a ten minute conversation about shipyards, beer, drugs, a Salvation Army sleeping back, work in a shipyard as a painter, the loss of automobile transportation, and what it was like living out on the street. I walked away from that exchange a little bit melancholy, but it was certainly not a boring engagement.

After over 4500 miles covered, that exchange is the one example where a version of my "meeting new people" as part of my walking occurred.  I've exchanged relatively hasty greetings, brief discussions on weather, and hours and hours of talking to Rory but given our history I'm not counting those.

Today, I was presented with another opportunity to make that human connection that I had created out of thin air in my mind and if my experience is indicative is truly a rare occurrence.  I blew it big time.  

I was walking north after completing the outbound leg of my evening ambulation when three youths wearing ties and headed south met me along the path.  Given the level of darkness, the age of the fellows involved, and the fact that there were three of them (although two is more common), I pegged them as Jehovah's Witnesses. Although I quickened my pace a little, I was not disappointed in my prediction when the lead lad said to me, "Excuse me sir, I was wondering if we could share our message with you?"  I brushed them aside with a wave of my left hand and said, "Thanks. I'm good." I continued my clip north, and I suspect that I'll never see them again.

Now there are a number of things wrong about how I handled that situation and a number of excuses that I could offer.  The bottom line up front is that I blew and opportunity, a rare one at that, to make good on one of the original visions that I had of this endeavor.  I sold my dream short because at the time I wasn't willing to listen.  Someone took it upon themselves to reach out to me and establish contact, and I blew them off for no reason at all.

I can't even say that I've heard the message that they were trying to bring me before.  Though a few of my close friends in high school were Mormons and I've heard snippets of their doctrine before, I've never taken the time to listen to their message. When they've come to my door, I've told them to fuck off.  I've said it a bit more politely than that of course, but that was the message.  It was the same message my dismissive wave and arrogant statement of being good with the world and not in need of hearing their message this evening conveyed. I've never given them the opportunity to share their missionary message, so it is just not possible to know that I'm good in the absence of facts.

On further reflection, I realize that a more appropriate response would have been to invite them to join me and share whatever they liked.  I suspect they would have wheeled about and come with me given the fact that they probably face the type of dismissive arrogance that I demonstrated time after time as they work to practice their own spiritual journey. I'd stumbled across that fellow traveller that I had imagined, some young men on the own quest for spiritual discovery, and I blew them off because on the surface their journey was not the same one I am undertaking.

I don't know what would have come out of that interaction, but it was an opportunity that the universe delivered on a silver platter to the middle of the trail I was walking and I went out of my way to exercise my will to ignore it.  

I won't say that it won't happen again, but I am committed to not making that exact same mistake again.  It's not in keeping with what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm also not so awash in connectedness that I can't afford to spend a little time with a fellow human who has the courage to reach out with an offer of brotherhood, however brief it might have been. If I'm offered another opportunity to hear the message of a Jehovah's Witness, I'm going to listen to it.  Then I'll at least be able to make a determination based on some facts.

There is a relatively long poem titled "The Laws of the Navy" written by CAPT Hopewood, RN, and I recommend it for consideration because it is excellent life advice.  I think this stanza has some application in this situation.

Saith the wise, "How may I know their purpose?"
Then acts without wherefore or why.
Stays the fool but one moment to question,
And the chance of his life passeth by

Travel Day

Today started off with an early trip to the airport for follow-on travel to the Gulf Coast.  While rumors have it that airline travel is not the luxury experience that it used to be, there is some evidence in my mind that this is just revisionist history.  For one, the airports themselves are far more luxurious than they once were, and this change has materialized during my lifetime.

Airplane Sculpture as an Advertisement for an Airport Pub and Restaurant

The airports that are part of my normal routine (just saying that is something to ponder) have become a combination of art and technology museum.  The artwork is fairly diverse including large and small scale sculpture, paintings, drawings, and technology centered art.  The technical displays are largely related to air travel, but it is not unusual to see space, ground transport, and political science displays as well.

This is probably not the most popular opinion, but I really don't mind going to an airport.  Even the Transportation Security Administration seems to have gotten their act together, and it looks like TSA pre-check will be widely available to even the casual traveller.  Lines aren't bad, and again, technology is making a real difference both at the ticket counter, the gates, and yes, the security lines.

It also doesn't hurt one little bit that I can get into and aluminum tube that travels just a little less than 500 mph around 30K feet (that's five miles give or take) and land largely refreshed and ready to go 1200 miles away from where I started in just seven hours.  The fact that this remarkable achievement has happened on a timeline where the first manned powered flight happened four short years before my grandfather's birthday makes the achievement all the more amazing to me.

After a quick hop down to the Gulf Coast, my pace slowed down and pedestrian activity ensued.  You know you may be back in the south when Spanish moss and American Alligator Warning placards begin to appear out of the woodwork. 

Spanish Moss Overhanging the Oak Ridge Trail at Gulf Shores State Park

I stumbled upon this trail after a quick jaunt down to Gulf Shores, AL to see what there was to see.  The walk turned into a 9 mile loop which was about a mile longer than I anticipated but rewarding nonetheless. The trail bordered a wetland, or what most rational people would call a swamp with the requisite warning signs for this type of area in the south.

American Alligator Warning Placard in Gulf Shores State Park

I approve of the advice to resist feeding the alligators. I know I have no desire to become their lunch or even mid afternoon snack.

Sunset happened about a mile before I wanted it to happen, but since stopping the spinning of the planet is not yet in my repertoire revelling in it a bit early seemed like the best option.

Gulf Coast Sunset #1 as Seen from the Middle of a Swamp

Even though I didn't get the full experience because of the swamp surrounding me and blocking my view, the high color of the setting sun seemed worthy of digital capture.

Gulf Coast Sunset #2 as Seen from the Middle of a Swamp

Today was very full, and strung together, it represents another 24 hour chapter in a very fulfilling life.  I'm grateful for the richness of the experience.