Monday, August 27, 2012

Thunder and lightning and rain, oh my!

Tomorrow is my wife's birthday, and while it would be potentially fatal to reveal her age, let's just say she'll pass Jack Benny. As per her request, we had a low-key observance today, consisting of a couple of birthday cards, a gift card from Macy's and dinner this evening at a local Vietnamese restaurant (sorry, Aron, but I think the food at Viet Royale is better than that offered at Huong Viet). To my surprise this morning, Pamela agreed to join Amber and me on a hike (more like a walk, actually). And even though our outing was cut short due to inclement weather, she actually seemed to enjoy being outdoors. No doubt it was the very lack of sun, along with an absence of mosquitoes, that made the day such a pleasant one for her.

Our destination this morning was the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the scenic countryside of southern Maryland. Here, mother and daughter pose at the site's visitor center:


Setting out from the parking lot, the sky was overcast, but didn't appear very threatening as we passed by scenes of bucolic Americana:


There was even some sunlight as we started out on the Paw Paw Trail:


The woods were starting to get darker, however, as we approached Lookout Creek:


The rain started coming down, lightly at first, but soon in enough intensity to break out the umbrellas. Despite the change in atmospheric conditions, the atmosphere at ground level was pretty interesting. The Mounds Trail was named for...wait for it...mounds, which were created by soldiers as bulwarks during the War of 1812:


This garbage dump in the middle of an otherwise beautiful forest actually served as an important landmark on the trail. Yes, that is a car in the upper left corner:


The rain soon started coming down in torrents, with thunder rumbling above our heads. Still, we pressed on as the trail reached the point where the creek was flowing into the Patuxent River. It was here that we espied something that might've been a beaver swimming in the water, while a couple of ospreys were flying around:


By now the three of us were getting soaked, so we decided to cut short our walk and head back in the direction from whence we had come. At one point I saw two large shapes running through the woods, which I hoped were merely a couple of deer. All that water brought out the local frogs:


My daughter pauses at the remains of a tree that appeared to have been struck by lightning. So far the weather had only thrown rain and thunder at us, but that would soon change:


This turtle turned out to be surprisingly fast as it ran away from us. It paused long enough to snatch up an earthworm (which you can see in its mouth), before resuming its escape:


Ironically, by the time we emerged from the woods, the rain had stopped falling. Just when I was thinking we could go ahead and complete the walk as planned, and just before my wife snapped this photo of Amber and me, there was a flash of lightning:


Pamela looked at the sky and wondered about tornadoes. I told her the lightning was a more pressing concern. It turns out that there was at least one tornado or waterspout in the area this afternoon:


Stopping at a shelter near Stump Pond, there was another flash of lightning, followed almost immediately by a loud clap of thunder. I told Amber and Pamela to start heading toward the car as quickly as possible...


...though I still stopped long enough to take one more shot of the pond before the lightning flashed again:


The rain really began coming down at this point, while the wind starting picking up and lightning continued to flash. Nevertheless, we made it back to the sanctuary of our car safe and sound, and relatively dry, all things considered. It poured as we drove back, not letting up until we reached the outskirts of D.C., but spouse and offspring both pronounced themselves pleased with the day's outing, which made me feel all the better.

Truth be told, had I been out there by myself today, I probably would've donned my rain jacket and pants, and stubbornly pressed on with the hike, climate be damned. I'm stupid like that, having done just so on far too many occasions. Like the time in Yokkaichi 四日市 in Japan's Mie Prefecture 三重県, when I got caught up in a torrent of muddy water while descending Gozaisho 御在所 in a nasty thunderstorm (not to mention picking up a leech while fording a rapidly flowing creek). Or those times (note the plural) on the top of Dakeng  大坑 in Taichung 台中, Taiwan, when lightning bolts were striking uncomfortably close by. 

Some idiots never learn.











Sunday, August 26, 2012

Come on-a My (White) House


You know this house. I know this house. My daughter knows this house. I had planned on taking the family on a tour of the White House, but when I recently learned that there would be a wait of between 5-6 months for tickets (obtained from your state's members of Congress) - not enough time considering that we're scheduled to leave for Shanghai 上海 in February - I figured I owed it to my daughter at least to show her where the President of the United States lives and works, even if meant having to content ourselves with looking in from the outside.

We approached the White House this afternoon by way of Lafayette Square, home to several statues of heroic figures from American history, but only one of them an actual American. That honor belongs to Andrew Jackson, hero of the War of 1812 and the seventh President. Amber had never heard of him, so I showed her a twenty-dollar bill to illustrate who he was. She was happy to turn the bill over and realize she was seeing the same building almost directly in front of her:



Another statue we checked out in the square was that of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Pole who fought for the U.S. during the American Revolution. The rear of the statue features an American eagle killing a snake under the words "And freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell":



To badly paraphrase General Pershing, "Here I am, Lafayette!" This tribute to the Marquis de Lafayette (no surrender monkey, he) shows a nude woman symbolizing America handing the French general a sword. Anyone who has ever proudly eaten "Freedom Fries" should be made to stand guard here during the height of a Washington, D.C. summer (mostly as punishment for not realizing that french fries come from Belgium, not France):



Following a quick lunch of hot dogs purchased from a cart, the two of us (my wife decided to take the opportunity to relax at home this afternoon) went up to the gates to have a closer look at the Executive Mansion:



At White House Gifts. Tea parties are not for racist reactionaries who are shockingly ignorant of American history (recent and otherwise):


We walked over to the South Lawn, where Marine One lands and takes off. Today, the only activities taking place on the grass were provided by numerous squirrels, who obviously enjoy presidential protection:


Amber and I finished off the afternoon by playing some Frisbee on the Ellipse. When I was her age, I wanted to visit Washington, D.C. and see all the sites. My daughter is getting to do these things now - there's no better place than here for an introductory course in American civics:











Saturday, August 25, 2012

Foggy went a-courtin'...Supreme courtin', that is

I've actually had the luxury of some free time in my schedule (not much, mind you, but some) between the end of consular training in the middle of this month, and the beginning of intensive Mandarin Chinese studies due to begin right after Labor Day. Today, I had to travel to Foggy Bottom in the District for a State Department-related consultation, but once that was finished, I was free. And so it was I ended up paying a visit to the United States Supreme Court, just a short walk up First Street from the Capitol South Metro Station. The building's western facade, alas, is undergoing some sort of renovation, resulting in a covering up of the famous "Equal Justice Under Law" motto:


This, of course, is what it normally looks like:


At least The Contemplation of Justice and The Authority of Law weren't under wraps:



The Greek Temple motif continued once inside the building. This Temple Colossus style of architecture dominates in the nation's capital, and I find it to be simultaneously impressive and oppressive. Washington is chock full of impressive structures, but their sheer size and explicit links to the ancient world are seemingly designed to remind you of where governing power actually resides. In the judicial branch of the federal government, that authority lies with the Supreme Court, of course, and the Chief Justice who gave the court its power of judicial review, John Marshall, presides over the ground floor in Greek God glory:


Still, it is one hell of a building. The spiral staircases are closed to the general public, but are still a sight to behold looking up from ground level:


I obviously chose the wrong day to visit as the Court Chamber on the first floor was closed this afternoon, but visitors were still allowed to peek in from the outside:


The first floor is dominated by the Great Hall, which has it all when it comes to Temple of Justice architecture - high painted ceiling, marble columns and busts of all the Chief Justices:



At least the east facade wasn't hidden from view. One of the figures above the motto "Justice the Guardian of Liberty" is none other than Confucius 孔子 (the sage on the left in the photo below):



Scaffolding issues aside, the Supreme Court Building is a worthwhile destination. In terms of sheer daunting displays of individual insignificance, however, nothing rivals the U.S. Capitol, which sits across the street:


That one will have to be saved for another day.

Prior to my morning meeting at one of the State annexes, I found myself with some time to kill, having arrived a little early. So I took a short walk, and the following shots, starting with Washington Circle:


Not your typical Washington, D.C. townhouse:


This statue of late 19th-century Mexican President Benito Juárez was a gift from Mexico to the United States. Stirring as it was, I was more interested in the Watergate complex in the background:













Monday, August 20, 2012

Soloing in the rain

7.9 miles (12.7 kilometers). A 600-foot (182 meters) gain in elevation. 4¾ hours. These are the statistics from the solo walk I took this morning and afternoon in the Prince William Forest Park, a component of the National Park System located just 40 minutes by car from our apartment in Falls Church. In many respects, it was like being back in East Asia again. Alone for long stretches of time in the forest. Peaceful, beautiful scenery. Even the heavy rain that fell starting around noon was evocative of past experiences. The only things missing today were wild monkeys and mountains. More than three months in northern Virginia, and I still haven't done much in the way of climbing. I'm sure there are mountains out there somewhere, but all those rolling hills aren't of much use in helping to fulfill those yamabushi 山伏 dreams.

A 150-million-year-old piece of petrified wood maintains a silent vigil in front of the park's visitor center.







Danger! Pelegro! Yellow jackets nest






These remains of concrete buildings are the only reminders of the pyrite mine that once operated here. The mine was shut down in 1919 when it was determined that pyrite could be mined more cheaply in Spain. Looks like globalization has been around longer than we thought.