Hello Everyone. It’s been a year now. A year this past Monday to be exact. A year at home here in Washington D.C. That wasn’t the plan, but life is what happens when you’re making other plans, right? I don’t regret coming home and it’s actually been a great year, all things considered. It’s been a year of exploring the region with my mom and learning a lot of things I never knew about my own hometown. A year of Friday night parties in the basement, movie nights and watching the seasons change. I’ve spent 8 months of that year watching Mason grow from 2 to 3 and laugh and learn and fall down and get back up. I’ve also been able to watch the young man I tutor build his academic confidence and helped in some small way to move him toward his goals. It’s been a year of rethinking and retooling my plans going forward and deciding to put my own personal happiness above any other measure of success (more on my plans coming soon). It hasn’t all been great, though. My personal health, both physical and mental, has suffered through all of this. My van sat unused for many months because of a broken brake line, but has gotten a lot of love and attention since. My podcast has gone dark for over a year now, but I hope to revive it in about two months. Looking back at the end of the year, though, this time will only be somewhere between 1-2% of my life – just a flash in the grand scheme of things, another chapter of many from a very blessed life. Also at the end of this year I’m very aware of just how fortunate I am to have had what I’ve had this year. It’s certainly been a strange year to try and run a travel blog. I’ve travelled when and where I could and tried to share those trips with you here, but it certainly wasn’t what it would have been without the pandemic. I certainly appreciate you all for sticking with me through all of this and while next week will mark the end of this series, soon thereafter I will start fresh with new features and plans for my upcoming departure. Pandemics and politics will disappear from this space and be replaced with beautiful photos and interesting history. I can’t wait.
This week Mason and I welcomed the bumblebees back into our lives. We’ve been talking about them since they left us last October, looking forward to the day when they returned. These last few weeks it’s been “almost” and “not yet”, but on Friday we walked out into a beautiful sunny morning and there were a half-dozen bees right there in the front yard of his new house. That same day we saw a butterfly, a spider and some water-bugs as well, all very good indicators that spring is upon us. He’s learning the names of some of the flowers that are coming out, too, and I’m happy I have a great consultant (my mom) to make sure I get them straight myself. He’s starting to make some associations, too, which are pretty cool – he called buttercups “cups butter” and dandelions simply “lions” (which they resemble when he pointed that out). We were able to get into the water that day, too, and we both had so much fun watching the fish, throwing rocks and enjoying the sun. The day before, Mason got his first time-out from me though. He hit me in the face in a less-than-accidental way which I couldn’t overlook, so I sat him in the corner facing the wall for 5 minutes. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen and broke my heart, but I think that it’s a lesson he has to learn. We talked about it afterwards and hugged it out, though. Growing up sure is tough.
This week, we’ve returned to his old house for a while so their new house can get some necessary work done before they can move in for good. It’s been good to be back in the old neighborhood, see our old friends the stone animal lawn ornaments, and visit our old haunts now heading into spring. Today he was back in the water, splashing around and throwing rocks and as happy as a clam.
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom here in Washington, which is always one of my favorite times of year to be here. While the ones everyone wants to see are downtown near the monuments, there are wonderful cherry blossoms all over the city. They make me feel happy. In addition, the magnolia in our front yard has bloomed magnificently this year. Some years the cold and wind will keep it from a full bloom, but this year everything came together just right.
We enjoyed the magnolia on Friday by sitting underneath it in the late afternoon sun and sipping a few Festive Ales from Old Ox Brewing Company in Ashburn. When I lived in Japan, we had wonderful “Hanami” or flower-viewing parties when the cherry blossoms bloomed. Everyone would come outside after a long, cold winter, spread out a blanket and sit all day under the flowers, drinking beer, eating snacks and having a good time. That was what we were celebrating on Friday. I cooked up some delicious okonomiyaki for my folks (a Japanese cabbage pancake) and I forgot how good they are. We finished the evening with some mochi covered ice cream balls which were perfect.
I also spent most of Saturday sitting under the tree. I read from my new book The Cooking Gene, A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by D.C. native Michael W. Twitty. So far, I’m really enjoying it. Then I wrote a story for my podcast while sipping some sparkling water and soaking up some wonderful sunshine. Sunday we got rain and massive gusts of wind, and I was sure the magnolia would be stripped bare – but it’s hanging strong. We brewed a pale ale in our home brewery in the afternoon and played some cards while we did. I also spent some time playing with some of my new video equipment in the hopes of showing y’all some of the wonderful places I travel in video form. Saturday night I went to Mason’s parents’ new house for a fire and some beers before they moved out which was nice (and always nice to get out of the house).
Monday I was back to tutoring and then Tuesday my mom and I took a ride out to the National Arboretum. The cherry blossoms and magnolias were stunning out there, and while it is probably the busiest time of the year for the arboretum it was still way quieter than downtown. We tried to go to East Potomac Park which is another good spot for cherry blossoms, but the park police had it closed off. We saw some more in Dunbarton Oaks Park here in the northwest part of the city as well. It was nice to have my mom with me on an adventure again after a month of nursing her hip-replacement and taking it easy.
Today, Mason and I got out for a little while before the rain hit in the afternoon which was good. My folks and I are going to switch Dinner and a Movie back to tonight this week and watch the Harrison Ford’s castaway movie Six Days and Seven Nights. Tomorrow I’m hoping to catch up with my friend and fraternity brother from college, Rick, and his wife who will be in town for the evening. Rick is also one of the biggest supporters of this blog which is also very appreciated. Friday afternoon I plan on heading back out to Watkins Regional Park in Prince Georges County for a weekend of camping and solitude. I want to try some things out with my van, shoot a little video footage, and generally just get out of town for a minute and get some “me-time” in. The weather should be fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to it. I certainly want to take a minute to wish everyone who celebrates it a Happy Passover this week and for those who celebrate Easter, a very Happy Easter for this Sunday. As long-time followers of this blog might remember, I grew up in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, so our Easter is often on a different day than the one most people celebrate (read about that in this post that I wrote a few years ago). This year our Easter will be in the beginning of May, so I’m going camping instead this weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful week out there, wherever you are. It’s hard to believe that April is upon us. Try and take a minute this week to stop and smell the flowers. Come on back next week for the very last edition of D.C. Chronicles, at least for now. Take care and thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike