Hello Everyone! If you’re reading this on Wednesday night, Happy Groundhog Day to you. One of my college friends was from Punxsutawney, PA so I always think of him today. Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) did, in fact, see his shadow today, and in so doing he has predicted six more weeks of winter. That can only mean one thing – it’s definitely time for me to head south. This Sunday is the day, if all goes according to plan. I’ve spent this week packing, finishing up what I can of my projects while I’m here at home, and spending as much time as I could with friends and family. It’s always bittersweet to leave and as much as I’m looking forward to all of the adventures ahead, it’s always tough to say goodbye. To help pick myself up, I have contacted a few people who I will be seeing in the beginning of the week, and I definitely hope to be in New Orleans by the following weekend with plenty of friends to catch up with there as well. On a completely unrelated note, our football team here in Washington has a new name, the Washington Commanders, and I wish them well in the coming years. May their moral compass be a little truer than it has been in recent years.
Packing up my van is always quite a project as there is a place for everything and everything needs to be securely in its place. Every time I am home I unpack completely so I can get in and clean the inside out really well and then repack everything with some adjustments where I believe better efficiency can be achieved. I feel as though this time it’s packed particularly well and even though I’ve got pretty much everything loaded up, there’s still plenty of room. I’m thrilled it’s not jam packed and I think everything is going to work out really well with the way it’s loaded. And I’m still days away from taking off which is even better so that I can make adjustments before I hit the road. Omicron has given me a little extra time here in DC and I’ve tried to use it wisely. Meanwhile it’s been particularly cold and icy in the south so maybe it will all work out for the best in the end.
I have made two adjustments to my media strategy this week and I’m feeling good about both of them. As I have been writing about for several weeks, I’ve been (slowly) building my photography storefront on a separate site which I will integrate into this site as much as I can. While it’s still not where I want it to be and has very few photos on it, I’m thrilled with how it is coming and am happy to offer you all a sneak peek. While you can’t connect to it from anywhere on my site just yet, have a look here and let me know what you think. As always if there is any particular photo you would like me to add, please let me know and I will do so ASAP. Secondly, I’ve officially launched my TikTok channel this week, something I’ve been talking about for over a year now but finally went ahead with. TikTok is a neat form of social media which I’ve enjoyed myself for a while now and which is completely driven by video content but in shorter form than YouTube. If you’re on TikTok, you can find me @miles2gobeforeisleep. Check out my first video here.
I have gotten out a bit this week even though it’s been so busy. Last Thursday my folks and I headed out into the city for a nice adventure. We headed through Georgetown and the Navy Yard to see what’s new in those neighborhoods and then paid a nice long visit to Congressional Cemetery, one of D.C.’s most famous cemeteries and one which was simply too hot to appreciate when we last visited last May. I set out in search of some Native American graves I wanted to honor, while my folks visited former head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover, Composer John Philip Sousa, Civil War photographer Mathew Brady and former ABC news correspondent Cokie Roberts. We also visited the Public Vault which has served as the temporary internment location for Dolly Madison and presidents John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. The last two I wrote about a few weeks ago as having begun their long, final journeys home over the Alleghany Portage Railroad. From there we headed over to Union Market and picked up one of our favorite Italian sub sandwiches from A. Litteri. We took them to-go and enjoyed them while parked not far away at the National Arboretum. After lunch we paid a short visit to the old Capitol Columns which were very quiet this time of year. Then we went for a couple of beers at one of D.C.’s newest breweries, City State, which we all enjoyed. We stopped for a quick beer at the Dew Drop Inn just down the way before calling it a night.
Friday morning I headed over to watch Mason for the day and to head out on some big adventures like we once did. I know he doesn’t remember the adventures we had, but he was excited to head out into the woods near their house nonetheless. We threw rocks in the creek, turned over logs to find worms and centipedes and roly-polies and talked and sang songs like we used to. He’s definitely grown up a bit since our pandemic year together and he’s somewhat easier to have a conversation with, but I miss the times we used to have when he was younger. We got him home for lunch and then I read him a couple of books before naptime (he apparently didn’t nap, but I took a nice long one myself). Back at home we had an American Irish Pub night with great Irish music, Guinness and wings. We played dominoes into the night and enjoyed a fun evening at home together.
Saturday afternoon I headed over to my friends’ house for dinner. We enjoyed some delicious barbecue from the relatively new Due South barbecue joint at the Navy Yard. I also got to play with both Mason and Zsofi and we had a merry old time of it. James and I stayed up to watch the football game which actually turned into quite a good one to watch.
Sunday was pretty relaxed. My mom made a nice breakfast and we all pitched in to cook a delicious Shrimp Étouffée for dinner. We listened to some great New Orleans music and made a nice night of it. The rest of this week has been pretty quiet as I’ve been busy packing and getting ready for my upcoming departure. Tonight I went for my last music night with the guys which was a lot of fun and something I will miss. It’s definitely been nice to be home for a while and to spend time with my people and I’m looking forward to seeing them all again when I’m done with this next leg of my journey.
And that’s about what’s been happening this week. I’m almost packed and ready to go and definitely looking forward to the adventure ahead. I can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store as I venture back across the country to the desert. I’m looking forward to desert hiking, beautiful sunsets and a lot of peace and quiet in the months ahead. By this summer, I’ll be back in California for work, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing the Pacific Ocean again. It’s been far too long. Alright y’all, I’m going to call it a week and get some sleep since it’s late and I have a lot to do tomorrow. I do hope to get this newsletter out next week from the road, but I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be. I guess you’ll just have to come back to see. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you right back here, same time next week.
-Mike