Ducked out of the bubble again.
Photos
DC’s RFK Stadium from Heritage Island in the Anacostia river.
Bad air
For the second day in a row, I am explaining to my 3-year-old why we’re not going to the playground. Hauling out the weather app, showing him the AQI map, and saying “Do you remember when you said the air was smoky? You were right - the air is bad right now.”
He and his peers are not the first toddlers to have air pollution explained to them (or just have had to deal with it), in fact we have more than enough code orange days around here that systematically impact others more than us, but the intensity, range, and reason is still a shame.
If we were doing everything we could, it might get a little better later in his lifetime. Sure, it might be notably better tomorrow or Saturday but it’ll happen again and again….
It’s a trope, but only because it is an essential act of life.
My toddler received a STEM “certificate” from the LEGO education booth at the White House Easter Egg Roll with the slogan “rebuild our world” (it was a hashtag actually). My mind went to a dark place … he might just have to.
Connection.
Ready to head back to the woods now.
Not the most artful shot, but an accurate representation of “a day in the life” common event — a low-flying military helicopter over Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. October 14, 08:56 ET.
Stopping for a second to appreciate passing through the autumnal equinox.
A brief respite
We will miss you, Greta.
Day 9: Bloom
Day 8: Union
Day 7: Park
Day 6: Silhouette
Day 5: Earth
Day 4: Thorny. Also, cliche.
Day 3: Experimental. This whole democracy thing.
Day 2: Photo
Playing the micro.blog photo challenge game.
Day 1: Switch
We visited the trains at the United States Botanic Garden this past weekend. Kiddo was mesmerized, nearly solemn (head-on shots we exclude from the public web, as best we can).
Dad might’ve liked it too.
Finally
The Capitol Fence Comes Down (HillRag)
The footprint of the fencing was reduced to the Capitol Square itself the weekend of Mar. 13 and 14th. Matthew visited the Capitol Grounds Friday with his 22-month son. The family lives nearby, and said that the Capitol Grounds are part of the neighborhood. “I felt a little bit of emotion,” he confessed of the moment he saw the fence dismantled. He said he felt lucky to witness such historic moments, but views the future with a touch of cynacism [sic].
“I appreciate the eventual response to the insurrection, but also feel like I see a lot of security theatre in this town. So I wonder what’s next? When you put up walls and you shut things down, and you do it for what I think is way longer than necessary, you set a precedent. And I’m not sure we’ve rolled anything back –we’ve just paused,” he said.”