A Curmudgeon Abroad : That was the month that was October

Thursday, November 1, 2018

That was the month that was October

I know I've seen this building somewhere before. Deja vu...

And so another month in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria statistical metropolitan area is in the books. Things started off with a scare as a result of my father having falling down in his apartment and breaking a couple of bones in the process. This necessitated a quick flight to the other Washington over the long Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend to see how he was doing. The verdict? Remarkably well for a man his age. Fingers crossed that he'll continue to make progress with his rehab and be back on his feet (literally) again soon:

Back in the District, the highlight this month for us was a visit one Saturday morning to the East Wing of the White House. Ticket requests have to be made several months in advance, through one's Congressional representatives or Senators, and thanks to the staff of Democrat Derek Kilmer, we finally scored three ducats (a previous application made during the last time we were in northern Virginia had gone unanswered). Presumably my wife, child and I were screened and deemed not to be a threat, so we made our way from the Federal Triangle Metro station through Pershing Park and to the White House visitors entrance at 15th Street and Hamilton Place. The statue of General Sherman marked the first of several security checkpoints we had to pass through before entering the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States:

As we entered the East Wing, a glimpse of the famous South Portico could be seen:

The hallways are lined with photographs of the current and previous occupants. Here's Gerald Ford with Japan's Emperor Hirohito 昭和天皇 in 1975...:

...and John F. Kennedy playing with Caroline and John Jr. in the Oval Office in 1962:

A cabinet displays some examples of presidential china used for state dinners:

The tour is self-guided, though Secret Service agents are posted along the route to answer questions...and to keep an eye on things. Among the rooms that can be seen is the Library, with over 2700 books on its shelves:

The Vermeil Room holds American and European silver objects, and the walls are adorned with portraits of recent first ladies (that's Jacqueline Kenney in the background):

A copy of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington hangs in the East Room, where the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and Kennedy lay in state after their assassinations:

My wife and daughter check out the Green Room, first used by Thomas Jefferson to host dinners and then by James Madison as a parlor. The centerpieces are John and Abigail Adams' silver coffee urn and James and Dolly Madison's French candlesticks:

The Green Room also provides a good view of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial:

Back on the tour route, next up is the Blue Room, furnished by James Monroe in 1817 and used by Grover Cleveland when he married Frances Folsom there in 1886, becoming the first (and so far only) president to hold a wedding ceremony in the White House:

The Red Room is a parlor often used by first ladies to receive guests:

An 1869 portrait of Lincoln by George P.A. Healy looks down upon the up to 140 guests seated in the State Dining Room:

Unsurprisingly, there are presidential portraits everywhere you turn along the visitors route:

Amber and I at the end of the roughly 45-minute visit. Sure, it's brief, you only get to see a small portion of the White House and the process of obtaining tickets is cumbersome, but it was still fascinating to get a glimpse of at least part of the interior of one of the most famous residences in the world. And fortunately we didn't run into the current incumbent nor his spouse (even though I was wearing my "Slovenia. Since 1991" T-shirt), probably to the disappointment of the two couples ahead of us in line at the security checkpoint, the clean-cut husbands of which were both proudly sporting MAGA hats (in contrast to my sweat-stained Los Angeles Angels cap). The circumstances of my present line of employment limit the extent to which I can expand upon my political views, but suffice it to say my loyalty is to the office itself (or more specifically, to the document under which it was created), and not whichever individual happens to be currently occupying it:

Following our tour, we took a walk around the western side of the White House grounds, passing by the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, one of Washington's many grand buildings. Behind it stands the First Division Monument:

We ended our morning by taking in the famous vista of the South Lawn, and in the opposite direction the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial, the same view as that seen from the Green Room of the White House:

On the following Saturday morning, my daughter and I exorcised our bodies by walking a section of the Capital Crescent Trail (Shu-E came tantalizingly close to joining us, but eventually opted out over fear that a single ray of sunlight might strike her body). This yellow abstract sculpture welcomed us as exited the Bethesda Metro station and headed toward Elm Street Park to join up with the trail:

From the park we were supposed to begin the hike by entering the Wisconsin Avenue tunnel, but it was closed for renovations, forcing us to pick up the trail several blocks away. The sight of sweaty white people in tracksuits passing us on the sidewalk indicated the trail wasn't far. Sure enough, it was busy with cyclists, joggers and walkers on this Saturday morning:

The Capital Crescent Trail is one of those rails-to-roads pathways that follows the roadbed of a former railway, in this case the Georgetown Branch line of the Baltimore & Ohio that operated from the 1880's to 1985. The weather was pleasantly warm, and autumn is only just starting to make its presence felt:

Amber takes a Pringles break (she insisted it was a healthy snack, claiming the nutritional information on the can compares favorably with that of granola bars) by a marker for the Loughborough Mill (1830). The flour mill ceased operating in the early 1860's when the Loughborough family moved south in support of the Confederacy, leaving Union troops to seize the property:

Not the clearest of photographs, but we did encounter several cardinals along the trail (as well as numerous squirrels):

Passing by the Dalecarlia Reservoir:

The red-brick Dalecarlia Tunnel is 341 feet (104 meters) in length and was built in 1910:

My daughter pauses by a "duck-in", designed to protect track workers from passing trains. Someone had converted the space into a makeshift "shrine":

A lone crabapple tree appeared to be blooming early (its companions were barren, as the trees usually don't bloom until early spring):

Leaving Maryland and entering the District of Columbia:

The kudzu vine is an invasive species that has had a devastating effect throughout the American South (and including the Washington, D.C. area):

The Arizona Avenue Trestle, which, like the Dalecarlia Tunnel, was constructed in 1910 (from salvaged metal):

The trestle crosses over the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal:

Amber took this photo of some berries hanging over the trestle:

The final section of the Capital Crescent Trail parallels the Potomac River. Here I paused to take in the scene:

The route passes by the Three Sisters:

Taking in the view of the Key Bridge from a spot close to the Washington Canoe Club:

Georgetown marks one end of the Capital Crescent Trail - for us it was a four-hour, eight-mile (12.9 kilometers) stroll from Bethesda. Before crossing the Potomac and returning to Virginia, however, the power of Christ compelled us to cross gridlocked M Street (never drive in Georgetown on a weekend!) to seek out The Exorcist steps, where Father Karras leaped to his death after convincing the demon to possess him instead of Linda Blair. It took a fair bit of patience for a rare moment to open up when the stairs were devoid of visitors:

Souls cleansed, we crossed the Key Bridge:

Looking toward the Three Sisters:

Back into the welcoming arms of Virginia, where lovers are welcome but speed trap avoiders are not (the state needs the money):

Not being very good at learning languages (just ask my former Mandarin and Russian teachers), it's been the usual struggle to grasp the finer points of Amharic (የአማርኛ ቋንቋ). On the other hand, judging by my dexterity at using injera (እንጀራ), I shouldn't have many issues grappling with the nuances of Ethiopian cuisine (የኢትዮጵያ ምግብ). A virgin when it came to Ethiopian food, I became a man, gastronomically speaking, when I joined my classmates for lunch on the last Friday in October at a restaurant in Falls Church called Checheho (ጨጨሆ). If the food there is any indication, I'll be eating well after we arrive in Addis Ababa (አዲስ አበባ) next summer. The Washington, D.C. area is home to a large Ethiopian/Eritrean diaspora, and this is reflected in the number of restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores in the region:

The last Saturday of the month was a busy day, at least for my daughter. Amber took part in the daylong Pumpkin Classic Go 囲碁 (日)/圍棋 (中) tournament, held at the National Go Center in Washington, D.C. She would play four matches in total, winning two of them:

During the lunch break, we went downstairs to Satay Club, where I had the Malaysian fried rice:

While my daughter was occupied with determining effective stratagems, I went for a walk (the morning rain having thankfully stopped by early afternoon). After browsing the racks at Politics and Prose, one of Washington's best independent bookstores (and one which I'd first visited three years ago), I stopped by Fort Reno Park. There isn't much to see these days (though it is the scene of an annual summer concert series), but its location marks the highest point in the District of Columbia (at 409 feet/125 meters it's still lower than the top of the Washington Monument). Naturally, this meant it became the site of a fort during the Civil War, and was the scene of the only battle of that conflict to take place within D.C. The sandstone castle-like building in the background is part of a reservoir which is off-limits to the public:

Following the conclusion of the Go tournament, Amber and I drove across town (yes, drove - we rented a truck for the weekend) to the National Arboretum, where the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. (JASWDC) was holding its Otsukimi お月見 Moon Viewing event. Dinner was a bento 弁当 enjoyed al fresco (despite the look on her face, my daughter enjoyed the meal - this photo caught her as she was sampling a daikon radish 大根):

Amber tried her hand at kendama けん玉...:

...calligraphy 書道 (the character means "star" and is read as hoshi)...:

...and pounding mochi 餅:

Your humble scribe also had a turn at the traditional way of preparation, but preferred the final product:

A demonstration of the tea ceremony 茶道 was given:

During the event, visitors could explore the famous Bonsai Museum:

I forced my daughter to get back to her roots (rimshot) by standing next to this Taiwanese Cypress bonsai:

We also checked out the Herb Garden and the old U.S. Capitol Columns, which looked suitably relic-like in the evening darkness (click here for a report on our daytime family visit to the National Arboretum six years ago):

The evening ended with a performance of the koto 箏, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument:

And thus another October is in the books. Happy Halloween!:

The history of East Falls Church explained, in case you were wondering

A federal boundary stone 1791-2, demarcating the District of Columbia (though now sitting in present-day Virginia)

A local landmark in Falls Church. This statue was created by Richard Beyer, noted for his Waiting for the Interurban in Fremont, WA

Another local landmark

One of Amber's favorite restaurants in Falls Church is Ireland's Four Provinces, where the walls are decorated with Irishness including portraits of Michael Collins and photographs of the Easter Rising. My daughter's favorite dish there is the shepherd's pie, whereas I tried the Guiness beef and stew on our most recent visit. The two of us found room to split a bread pudding