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.

Bringing Balance to Your Being...Oh, Look a Squirrel

Today was another consolidation day.  A consolidation day is one of those days or weeks or months or even years when things feel like they are just not moving anywhere very quickly.  There is motion all around, but it's short motion, and it is not directed in any sort of noticeably coherent manner.  Quite frankly, I was a little bit worried about what I should say in the daily column, so on the early morning walk I started looking for something funny or spiritual or entertaining to snap a daily photo and then spend the rest of the day slowly piecing together the text that would add the profundity to the pixels.

Every bit of that last sentence (with the possible exception of the profundity bit) is generally how the process has been working over the last several weeks.  Minutes into my walk, I noticed that the breeze was unusually calm, and the water of the Anacostia River were about as smooth as I have ever seen them.  There was a crew from one of the several rowing clubs just upriver from the Riverfront Park area that was out practicing.  You could hear the slice of their shell through the water, and it reminded me of early Sunday morning waterskiing at the east end of Broad Bay off of Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach.  It was a holy hour before the chop had been put on the water by other boaters and breeze, and the clean swishing sizzle of the boat across the top of the water made everything seem right with the world.  Balance could be found with a 60 hp outboard and the right time of day.  That was the same type of calm that I sensed this morning on the Anacostia.  The mirror images of everything near the river demonstrated the flatness of the river, and this is what it looked like.

ex-USS Barry reflected in the Anacostia River

At the time I knew I was forcing it, but I hoped to be able to come up with something profound to say about the balance and serenity.  Something deep and spiritual and meaningful.  Because I was forcing it, unsurprisingly, that's not what happened at all.

Fortunately I was saved from the unpleasant and probably unfruitful task later on in the afternoon during my second walk for the day.  You guessed it I...Oh look, a squirrel.

Albino Squirrel (Front View)

Not only did I spot a squirrel, I spotted an albino squirrel.  This guy was an attention grabber, and by the way he reacted to the camera I suspect he'd been given quite a bit of camera time by the folks out and about on the Washington, DC Mall.

Albino Squirrel (profile view)

Apparently, sightings of albino grey squirrels are relatively common in Washington, DC, but this is the first one that I've ever seen.  This is the guy you can thank for ensuring that today's entry was not some ponderous overly sappy segment of life balance and the oneness of the universe.  There will be plenty of those I'm sure, bur for now I'll just celebrate this unusual squirrel sighting.