Last Day of Winter, 2016

Tomorrow has been declared the Spring Equinox for 2016, and as such, today is the last day of winter. The season of cold and slumber did not disappoint, and was characterized by gray rain and snow laden cloud cover.

Triton Light with the Severn River Behind on the Last Day of Winter - 2016

The weather matched my cool and less than sunny outlook.  I'm ready for the season of rebirth to take hold. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad day. There really is no such thing as a bad day, but I'm getting closer to moving forward on some changes that are becoming long past due. We'll see where it all leads, but as always, I'm looking forward to the ride.

Anacostia 81

This is the 81st photo of the Anacostia River since I've started this blog.

Anacostia Waterfront at Sunrise with USS Barry

I'm just gonna leave this right here.

...and it happens every day!

I woke up at a little after 4 am this morning, promptly hit the snooze button, and said to myself "just seven more minutes." Two and a half hours later I jolted awake in a panic because I knew I'd removed any reasonable possibility of making the first scheduled meeting of the day. The panic morphed a little as I plodded downstairs and beheld the fact that a Leprechaun had sprung the trap that my daughter had set for it the evening before, and instead of leaving a pot of gold, he had eaten the carrots, chicken, and most of the chocolate used for bait, he'd slept in the barbie bed, and put little green footprints all over the kitchen floor.

Between the late awakening and the chaos of the Leprechaun, St. Patrick's Day 2016 had gotten off to an inauspicious start.

Events, as they are wont to do, unfolded in a slightly more organized fashion and I was able to see a friend of mine from college who I have not seen in person since 2004 because he went out of his way to drop by my office on his way to another event. I pushed some paper through the process at work because that's what I get paid to do, and I hit the trail in the afternoon with a little bit of relatively comfortable jogging to test out the foot.

It was also a pretty good day to capture photos of the grand ol' lass of the Anacostia as the time of her departure draws closer.

Another Skyline with USS Barry

The USS Barry has become such a centerpiece for quite a bit of my photography during walks that I'm not sure how it will sit with me when she leaves in about six weeks.

Anacostia Afternoon with USS Barry

As I've probably mentioned before, she's been here in DC for about three decades now.

USS Barry and Vietnam era Swift Boat

These two pictures are the first time that I remember taking photos of Barry from the starboard side of the ship. I'm not sure why my habit to date has been to capture only the port side. It's an odd but enduring habit that I thankful to have broken today.

USS Barry and WNYD Saluting Battery

Just after I snapped the series of pictures for this panoramic view, a very large fish jumped right at my feet (I was on the water side of the pedestrian safety chain), and the sudden splash startled me enough to just about cause me to fall into the river. Thankfully, I managed to regain a modicum of composure, although my pride was pretty well shot at this point.

After completing what felt like an overly long commute, I wound up in Annapolis at just the right moment to capture the sun setting over College Creek. This just goes to show that if you let it, the universe will conspire to make you successful in spite of your best efforts to the contrary. Thanks to long lines of traffic, I arrived in the right place at just the right time to capture the following shots.

College Creek Sunset Panorama

This panoramic mashup created by Google Photos captures the scope of the vista pretty well, but the color has shifted enough that it doesn't quite capture the feel of the scene. I'm glad it was made for perspective because the sweep of the sky and the water just can't be adequately expressed in a single framed photo from this vantage point.

College Creek Sunset #2

This image is true to the colors of what greeted me on arrival in Annapolis after sitting in traffic for a little over an hour. The wait was worth it.

College Creek Sunset #3

A friend of mine remarked that this was "Amazing." I responded, "...and it happens every day." Some solar events are more flamboyant than others, but if you're lucky enough to experience one, they are all unique and pretty special...at least they are to me.

I've been very lucky over the last six months or so, and I'm looking for that good luck of good experience and a sliver of planning and action to pay dividends again tomorrow.

Philadelphia and Back

Today started with another glorious sunrise, and I experienced it from Philadelphia. I really do love that city, and I'm only a bit hesitant in suggesting that it is a place that I could see myself settling down. It's about the perfect distance between Washington, DC and New York, NY for visiting purposed, and the cultural offerings of what is really a pretty gritty East Coast industrial hub can't really be surpassed. The sunrise was fantastic as well.

Philadelphia Sunrise

For reasons that I can't really put my finger on, Philadelphia is a place that feels like home to me.

A quick morning lecture, and I was back on the road to catch a 2 pm meeting in Washington, DC. I was back before noon. That's what I mean by it being almost the perfect commuting distance for visiting from Philadelphia to DC.

I even made it back in time to catch another view of the USS Barry. Her departure is looming, and I'm really wishing that I'd done a better job of planning how to document her last days at the Washington Navy Yard. There's still time to act, but I'm going to have to "get hot."

Anacostia Afternoon with USS Barry

Another fulfilling day is now in the books, and I'm relishing the surprises that St. Patrick's Day may bring my way tomorrow.

Headed North

Today I started in Maryland, passed through Washington, DC, transited Delaware, and landed in Philadelphia, PA.  The morning started out right with a brisk morning walk along the Anacostia, and the views, as they often are, were spectacular.

Yards Park Fountain

I captured the images to create the gif that I was hoping for last time the Yards Park fountain was lit this way. I felt at home and comfortable when I rounded to corner and saw this display for the second time in the last month.  It was a good way to start.

USS Barry - Anacostia River Morning

I made use of the differing perspective that came to my attention yesterday, and captured another pretty good full length image of the USS Barry.

After wrapping up a few things at the Navy Yard, I headed north to Philadelphia.  I haven't been here in a couple of years, at least, and if feels really good to get back and be privileged to visit some of the old haunts of my youth. If viewed from the "right perspective" it seems that I've already achieved the lifestyle that bushels of gold would be used to facilitate.  

Another good day in the books, and I'll get a chance to practice some of my public speaking skills, such as they are tomorrow.  As always, I'm looking forward to the experience.

A Different Perspective

This evening there was no desire to cook to be found anywhere in the household, so I fell back on the old standby of take-out Chinese. We normally go to a place that isn't "knock your socks off" fantastic, but they deliver pretty good on a consistent basis.  It's just the kind of place that when you say to yourself, "Self, sauteed chicken breast and broiled asparagus doesn't seem like it's worth the trouble of dirtying the pans," that you'd pick for reliability and speed.

One of the things I like is that they "give" me a handful of fortune cookies with my family feast. The first fortune cookie that I opened suggested that, "You will gain a different perspective." Resisting the urge to append either "in bed" or "in jail" to the end of the fortune, I realized that I'd already experienced a different perspective of sorts on my way home from work.  As part of my practice, I'm trying to take a daily photo of the USS Barry at the Washington Navy Yard every day that I can until the ship departs the Anacostia River bound for the breakers scheduled for 07 May 2016.  I was running late, one of the reasons that cooking was off the table, and stopped my car in a parking lot and snapped some shots through a fence.

USS Barry - A Different Perspective

It's a good angle to capture the ship I think, and certainly a perspective that I've not paid a great deal of attention to in the past.

The second fortuned I unearthed suggested that, "You will come to possess bushels of gold." Given the realization of the first fortune, I'm even more excited to see just what will unfold tomorrow.

Gray Day and a Subdued Mood

James Altucher has become a virtual mentor for me. Today, the sky was cloudy, there was rain in the air, I was in a bit of melancholy mood, but thanks to the example that James has set, I kept my daily practice going and I enjoyed the way things turned out.

I hit another two-a-day walking practice again today, but the distances are still shorter than what had become my routine routes in the past.  This has turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it has given me the opportunity to experiment and visit some places that I haven't visited during that time of routine. Today, I rambled around Naval Support Activity (NSA), Annapolis.  I've been there before, but I boldly walked some areas that I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to go.  The view was fantastic.

USNA YP Squadron and a Liberty Boat at their Moorings on the Severn River

I walked this location before, but in the past I was always a little wary that someone might ask me what I was doing there and why I was trespassing.  There are no signs or fences indicating this isn't allowed, but I've always dreaded that confrontation in the past.  I didn't have that same fear today, and I was able to take in the Yard Patrol (YP) craft as well as the skyscape reflections with a sense of awe that had, in the past, been muted by fear.  I don't know what's changed, but something has definitely shifted for me mentally.

Yard Patrol Craft at their Moorings with Naval Surface Warfare Center Caderock, David Taylor Research
Station in the Background

I made my way down past the marine travel lift and in front of the maintenance hanger for the Naval Academy small craft.  I've never been down this route till today because it is definitely an area that has the feel of being off limits.  Again, that sense of trespass didn't cross my thoughts.

The Yard Patrol Craft Pier

Walking down past the CCTV cameras that lined the mooring pier for the YPs I began to get a little itch of anxiety, but I was here and the view was too good to pass up. I walked down the pier and was treated to a view of the Naval Academy and Annapolis Harbor that I didn't even know existed in an accessible fashion until this morning. I lingered at the end of the pier and took it all in for several minutes.  When I turned to beat a retreat, I crossed the half mile point at a 31 minute per mile pace. I'd taken my time and experimented with pushing my own limits of comfort by going into an area I've actively avoided in the past.

Severn River with Ducks in Flight

Walking my way back up the pier, I noticed that the ducks were particularly noisy and active. They honked in a seemingly endless cacophony and seemed to fly off with a degree of disgust as I rousted them from the morning perches. I suspect that ducks are not subject to the vagaries of daylight savings time, but if they lost an hour of sleep last night like the rest of us did, it might explain their relatively assertive declaration of their rights. 

Greenbury Point Extra Low Frequency Transmission Towers on the Severn River

I finally got back to one of the views on one of my old standby routes. The decommissioned ELF Towers on Greenbury Point stood as silent sentinels looking over the calm waters of the Severn River. The sky stood forth both above and below.

I didn't really get completely away from my melancholy mood today. I'm struggling with a decision that feels like it has some major consequences. To act or not to acti is the question that's running through my mind. If I act, or do not act, what is my motivation. Hard decisions don't really come down to choosing between right and wrong. The hard decisions are the ones when you pick between the better of two goods or the lesser of two evils. Those gray decisions are the ones I struggle with most often. It feels like that's what I'm facing right now. I'm probably wrong about that assessment, but it doesn't make the struggle any less real.

One thing that the walk this morning let me see is that there is quite a bit of beauty and diversity on even the grayest of days. It doesn't necessarily pop like the colorful rising or setting of the sun. It's a serenity and beauty that's a little more subtle. I have to pay attention just a little bit more to be able to see it, but it's there and it's real.

As is my practice, I'll continue to experiment and let the answers unfold over the course of tomorrow.