National Portrait Gallery in DC

When I'm not busy planning outdoor adventures for stormy days, I like to plan poorly for indoor activities.  Which is why the photos in this post are such crap (I forgot my camera and had to use my phone - remember that one time I went to the NY Met?  Yeah...) and there are so few of them (we left really late and didn't get to explore the whole museum before it closed).  So instead of telling you all about the fabulous National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum in Washington DC that I didn't really get to explore for very long, I'm going to share with you some of my favorite pieces currently on display that I did get pictures of.  I plan on going back to this one soon - definitely worth a visit.  It's also free and open till 7pm (a lot of the museums close around 5pm).

Banyan Tree, by Peter Blume, oil on canvas, 1961

The security guard got us good with this one, "Guess what that horse is made out of?"  We guessed driftwood.   Monekana, by Deborah Butterfield, bronze, 2001.  

Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, by Nam June Paik, 49-channel closed circuit video installation, neon, steel and electronic components, 1995

NorCal, represent!  Or something.  San Francisco West Side Ridge, by Wayne Thiebaud, oil on canvas, no date.  

I'm really going back just to play this (part of The Art of Video Games exhibit).

Luce Foundation Center for American Art (visible art storage and study center)

Rosalind Krauss, by Kathleen Gilje, oil on linen, 2006

Abraham Lincoln, by George Peter Alexander Healy, oil on canvas, 1887

Descending Night, by Adolph A. Weinman (born Karlsruhe), bronze, 1915

 On the left, Jessica, by Moses Ezekiel, marble, 1880.  On the right, I was sneaking up on my friend Jessica.  Little did I know that I was a Jessica taking a photo of a Jessica taking a photo of a Jessica.  Wild.  Or?

Before I forget - I got a Smithsonian membership while I was there for about half what it usually costs.  It's usually $29, so if you haven't already bought one, get on it now (the embedded link gives you all the highlights).

Great Falls Park

You could go to Great Falls, one of the National Parks in Northern Virginia, on a nice, sunny day.  You could go early in the morning to avoid traffic and crowds, even.  But wouldn't it be more exciting to go on a rainy day?  Especially if one of your companions is already sick?  

In April, I planned a trip to Shenandoah National Park on a foggy day and we couldn't see two feet ahead of the car once we were halfway up the mountain.  And just wait, I went to Monticello this month on a rainy, foggy day.  Best of both worlds, right?

I really have the worst planning skills.  I just shouldn't be allowed to plan things.

In any case, we didn't let a silly little thing like a downpour get in the way of our traipse through the park last week.  Most of the rain came down while we were heading entirely in the wrong direction, but quite a few interesting photo opportunities came up because of that.  Aside from having my jeans soaked through from the knee down with lukewarm water, it was pretty nice out there.  But take my advice - no matter where you park, head back toward the guardhouse/entrance to see the falls.  There is a huge picnic area, a visitor's center, bathrooms, a snack hut and three overlooks for the Falls themselves.  If you've walked for several minutes and haven't seen the visitor's center, you're going the wrong way.  Or you could do what we did and walk all the way until the trail ends and then realize you're in the wrong place.  You have options!

If you do decide to go away from the Falls, you will be walking along part of the Patowmack Canal, one of George Washington's projects to improve trade in the area.  Somewhere around there are also the ruins of Matildaville, a town that rose up because of the construction on the canal.


To get a full view of the Falls, go straight to Overlook 3.  But to get the best pictures, you'll probably want to go to all three.  Be warned, Overlook 1 is part overlook/part rock climbing, so you won't want to take anyone down there who can't do the latter.  The other overlooks have a nice, flat viewing area.

Also, when they tell you not to lean over or sit on top of the railings, they mean it.  It's for your own safety.  They have cameras.  Cameras that they actually pay attention to.  You'll get yelled at by the Park Po-Po if you do it.  Or maybe just glared at with great hostility.  It's not worth it either way.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Ignorance of the law is no excuse.  At least, that's what my mother is always telling me.

Another tip: Don't mess with the fawns.  Their moms will be back soon to pick them up.

Maybe it won't rain... 

Cancel. It's totally raining on that heron.

Those falls are really unimpressive...wait a minute...

 Maps are only helpful if they're correct.  My friends said the map on this sign was misleading, but the map you get at the guardhouse will lead you in the right direction.  So just...you know, ignore those signs.  But not the ones at the overlook.  Let me rephrase that: Pay attention to all the posted signs that warn you about possibly dying, but ignore the ones that tell you where to go.  And check out the Canada Geese.

It was worth the long walk in the rain to see this little guy.

Oh...yeah, this makes more sense - an actual overlook.

I now understand why the area I live in is called Cascades. 

Check out the high water marks pole (at Overlook 3).

Looking away from the Falls.

Look - Marylanders! (Over at the C&O Canal National Historic Park in Maryland.  There should totally be a suspension bridge...)

Squirrely Cat Burglar

           

My bird feeder is certainly not the prettiest, but when I realized how many birds we get in our yard, even without one, and found one in the garage, I immediately went out and bought birdseed.  I hoped I'd get to see a few songbirds.  I had no idea just how many birds and other creatures I'd get to see.  When I comment excitedly on all this, people look at me oddly and ask, "Don't they have wildlife in California?"  Uh yeah, tons, but you're not going to see very much if you live in the suburbs in an apartment building.  The last place I lived in Northern California was very pretty, but it is very different living in a house in such a lush place.  I'm less likely to kill off my herb garden (see Uncrafty for more on that) and the plants and bird feeder bring all kinds of creatures onto our back deck and into our yard.

My favorite birds, even though I know they're total bullies, are cardinals.

I was really excited when we had a chipmunk visit, but didn't get any pictures.  So far, my favorite guest was this squirrel who burgled the bird feeder for quite a while this morning.

Squirreliest cat burglar ever.

This is why I love this area and this house.  I'm going to have to get another bird feeder for the deck at this rate.  It's nice to be popular with the wildlife here.  Hopefully nothing will happen that will make me regret putting that in writing...

Ugh...I ate too much.

After the Storm

Yesterday's storm had everything from sideways rain to violent thunder to hailstones.  But at least we got a rainbow out of it.  I took this in Centreville after the worst of the storm had passed us by and about an hour before it started all over again!

Riverside Park on the Mount Vernon Trail

For the 4th of July, I was invited to a low-key barbecue at my friend's house in Alexandria (about an hour drive from my house in Sterling).  When I arrived, my friends weren't back from the store yet, so I took the opportunity to explore the surrounding area.  I knew that their house was near George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, but I didn't actually know I was headed that way until I came to the roundabout, packed with tourists.  So terribly packed that I knew I didn't have time to really look around, so I kept driving out of the roundabout and down George Washington Memorial Parkway.  The Parkway is gorgeous, first framed by tall trees full of glossy green leaves, then on the right (headed toward Theodore Roosevelt Island), suddenly the Potomac River reappears.  I pulled off the road the first chance I got, hoping to get a good view of the river, and ended parking in the lot for Riverside Park (about 1.3 miles from the Estate).  

Riverside Park is just one small portion of the area that the Mount Vernon Trail runs through (a little over 18 miles of paved trail).  The park is on the small side, but it offers views of the Potomac River and would be a great place for a picnic.  In fact, it is listed as one of the Washington Posts' Best Picnic Spots by the Water (along with the trail's Belle Haven Park, several more miles down the road).  The trail itself is listed as a great place for hiking, biking, etc., but the parks along the trail play host to dragonflies and song sparrows in Summer and osprey and waterfowl in Winter.  I like that the park felt out of the way and serene, even on the 4th of July and despite being off a major road.  It was a lovely start to my day.

Luckily, my day also had a lovely finish - I got to see fireflies for the first time.  Standing with my friend in her backyard, with all the lights in the house dim and the sky dark (after all the fireworks were over, not that we could see any past her trees), the bugs came out and started their light show.  Having grown up in California, I'd only ever read about them.  Once they started, I couldn't turn away from the flashing of green and yellow in the trees above us until the humidity finally made me feel like I was going to collapse.  We spent the next hour or so lying on the floor of her house, trying to get our temperatures back down.  But it was worth it.


For my California friends who have never had the chance to see them:

Zzzzz on LostGirls

I'm reversing things for one post, since I imagine a lot of the people who actually live in the area I write about on here still don't have power.  If you do have power and you want to read an aimless, tired post that will eventually be followed by a much more linear, useful (maybe) post... [read more...]