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Shelter in Place

D.C. Chronicles Volume 52

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 52

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the last weekly installment of D.C. Chronicles as Episode 52 will bring us to a full year discussing life at home for me here in Washington D.C. in the midst of the worldwide pandemic. If you’ve been following closely, you know that this is actually a bonus week since I did do one installment of This Week on the Road in the midst of it all when we went to visit my brother in New Hampshire. It’s been a year of ups and downs, highs and lows, but we’ve gotten through it together. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to those of you who’ve stuck by me through all of this. I hope that in the next couple of months I can get back to the journey this was supposed to be all about and I sincerely hope you’ll come along for the ride.

It seems like a fitting week to end on as by this time next week I should have my second vaccine dose in my arm and be ready to turn my attention full-time to getting myself and my van ready for a June 1st departure. Most of the people in my inner circle of family and friends have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine and I know it will be available for everyone who hasn’t very soon. On the other side of things, I lost a very old friend of mine this week to complications due to Covid. He wasn’t a close friend, but someone I had worked with at summer camp over 20 years ago who I stayed in contact with via Facebook. When I got the devastating news of his death (he was only 53), I sure was happy I had made an extra effort to go to his 50th birthday party and catch up in person after many years. I hate that this happened, and so close to the finish line, but it has definitely reminded me that life is precious and to live it while we can and to make the effort to attend people’s special moments whenever possible. In the future, when I look back on this past year, it will be impossible not to remember that this pandemic took the lives of my Aunt Jayne and my old friend Mike (who we all knew as “Mud”). May all of those we lost this year rest in peace.

While I can and will mourn the lives claimed by the pandemic, I will also look back at this year with a great deal of fondness. I got to spend the year with my mom and stepdad, celebrating what we could, when we could and as often as we could. I know that Washington D.C. is not where my destiny is and it will soon be time for me to go, but we’ve made the most of it and I’ll never regret the time I’ve gotten to spend with them. I’m especially glad I was here to help them with my mom’s recovery from her recent hip replacement. I know they would have gotten through it without me, but it was still good to be able to lend a hand. My mom got me out of the house 2 months into the pandemic when I was losing my mind and we took a quick trip to Manassas National Battlefield in Virginia. That trip inspired an in-depth exploration of the eastern theater of the Civil War, a look at Washington’s oldest homes, and winding trips down Maryland’s scenic byways. We’ve always been able to go on trips together and explore and chat and have a good time and it’s been wonderful to do that as often as we have this year. I will miss our weekly adventures together. This past week we journeyed out to Point of Rocks, a small rail-town in Maryland. It has a beautiful Gothic-style train station, sits on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and saw some action during the Civil War. It was fun to walk around the area (slowly on her new hip), and have so much background knowledge to the things we saw and read.

Of course, as you know, the most wonderful part of the last year was spending so much time with young Mason. We’ve been together pretty much every weekday for the last 9 months, and we make quite the team. I’ve taught him a lot this year, and he’s taught me at least as much in return. He starts each day with a fresh slate and seems to live completely in each and every moment. He’s not regretful of the past or scared of the future, he lives for today. He’s insatiably curious about everything we come across in our daily adventures, and hardly ever complained as we ventured out in heat and cold and snow. He loves books…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 50

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 50

Hello Everyone. I’m officially halfway to being fully vaccinated! I’m very happy and excited about that and it certainly has been the highlight of my week. I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday at the Washington Convention Center, and it was smooth and easy and I already have my second dose scheduled in just three weeks. I feel very relieved at this having happened and just a week shy of my one-year anniversary of being home here in Washington. I was happy to read today that one in four Americans have now gotten at least one dose of a vaccine and was overjoyed that this long year will soon be behind us to some degree. Beyond that, Mason’s parents sold their old house this week, Mason and I continued on our adventures in Barnaby Woods and spring is most definitely in the air here in Washington.

This week, Mason’s parents and I began discussing the inevitable end of our adventures together. He’ll be 3 in less than two months, and with my pending departure from the city it will soon be time for us to go our own ways. As happy and excited as I am to be back on my own and back on the road, it won’t be easy to leave him. Spending the last eight months with him has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Challenging, yes, but rewarding beyond my wildest imagination. On Monday, he and I were down by Rock Creek and he pointed and said “Uncle Mike! Ducks!”. I asked him what kind of ducks they were and he told me they were mallards and that the daddy had a green head and the mommy had a brown head. It was a pretty awesome moment and caused me to reflect on how much he’s learned and how much we’ve experienced together this year. We have only had our books and the park as inspiration, but I think we’ve done pretty well together. Just today, we were sitting on the front porch swing at his new house and he pointed to a wind chime I hadn’t seen before and showed me there was a deer on it. He then showed me the antlers and it made me smile because I know a lot of adults who don’t know the difference between horns and antlers, and he does. He can also tell the difference between a dog track and a cat track, between a cherry blossom and a magnolia and between a red-headed and a pileated woodpecker. We’ve watched the changing of the seasons together. And while I’ve taught him many things about nature, he’s taught me a lot about construction and big trucks and reminded me how magical the world can be when you’re experiencing it for the first time and your eyes are only 3 feet above the ground. Somewhere in there he’s learned to count, learned his ABCs, and how to use a toilet. All-in-all, I’d call it a year to hang our hat on.

For the last few weeks, whenever Mason hears his parents walking around the house, he looks me dead in the eyes and says “I hear cheetahs”. It’s the funniest thing and makes me laugh every time. His parents have set up a sandbox for him in their backyard which is definitely a winner. He loves shoveling sand from one place to another and then dumping it out. He also has his own slide and swing set back there which we’ve been making good use of. This week he’s started using one of my catch-phrases “how wonderful” which comes out as “how won-de-duh” but still makes me laugh and I think it’s a great expression for anyone. I’ve also been reading him some Disney books this week which my parents read to me as a kid and the images bring back a lot of memories from my own childhood. We’ve carved out a special nook in the attic to read on rainy days and it’s been amazing.

The weather has been pretty great this past week here in Washington. The cherry blossoms have started to bloom in this part of the city, though they are still in their buds downtown by the memorials. My mother’s magnolia in the front yard is about a week away from full bloom. Her forsythias are out and the daffodils are doing well too. Spring is such a wonderful and hopeful time, this year more than most. I’ve spent as much time as I could outside this week, enjoying sunny days, later sunsets and the fresh air the season brings.

I’ve also been spending some time this week making real plans for my June departure, with Michigan set in my sights as my first destination…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 49

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 49

Hello Everyone. In less than a week I have an appointment to get my first shot of the Covid vaccine. I am very happy and very excited, as this is the best news I’ve gotten in a while for myself (it was always more important that my folks got it and now that my mom and stepdad and my dad’s partner are fully vaccinated and my dad has his first shot, I’m happy for me). Beyond that, Shadow Catcher got new brakes this week so my van is edging closer to being “departure ready” as well. Mason and his parents have moved into their new house and he and I have spent the week exploring their new neighborhood. My mom’s hip replacement is healing well and she’s moving around a lot better. And in other awesome news, my very good friend Jorge and his wife have welcomed a beautiful bouncing baby girl this week. All told, it’s been a pretty good week here in Washington.

With my vaccine news and my van’s last big repair (hopefully), my plans for an early June departure may actually come to fruition. That probably means it’s time for this particular weekly update to come to an end. I plan to continue it for the next three weeks to bring a full year of DC Chronicles to a close. After that I’m going to spend a few weeks doing some revamping of my website and social media platforms to try and prepare for Departure 3.0. When I began this adventure back in 2017, my plan was to share my life with the world as I traveled the country and lived in my van. Unfortunately the reality at that time was that I was in a pretty dark place mentally, being in the midst of a long and painful breakup with someone I wrongfully believed was my soulmate. I couldn’t share my feelings or thoughts because they were all about her and that wasn’t what this journey was supposed to be. So I leaned away from me and leaned into taking photos and sharing my trip on a very impersonal level, which was all I was capable of at the time. Over the past year, I haven’t traveled much at all and I’ve been able to open up more about me and my life here in the midst of a global pandemic (such as it was), and I’ve really enjoyed that and the interactions with you all that have come with it.

As I get ready to leave for the third time, I expect a much more personal interaction to come from this blog. I want to show you my van, how it works, what my days and nights are like, where I go and what I experience. I’ve retooled some of my operation so I can work from my van and be able to utilize my time and resources better. I’m also in a far better mental state to be able to do so. In short, I guess I’m hoping to bring the personal side of DC Chronicles together with the travel/photography side of This Week on the Road and add a little more on the vanlife in the process. I think this time it’s all going to actually work out the way I had hoped it would in the first place! I also plan on starting my podcast again which takes a look at the history and culture of the states that I visit and is something I’ve really enjoyed. Much more to come on all of this in the next 10 weeks, but that’s a brief preview of what to expect. I’m super-excited about the whole thing.

So last week Mason and his parents moved into their beautiful new house in Barnaby Woods on the far northwest edge of the city and, if you had a good arm, a stone’s throw from the Maryland border. Mason and I have been talking about it for weeks to try and prepare him for the move. I know his parents had a lot to do and think about and I wanted to help with Mason’s transition as much as I could. On Thursday morning, as the movers were getting ready to come start their work, Mason and I headed outside for an adventure. I told him we’d find a new creek to throw rocks, new construction sites to watch, new mushrooms and berries and new birds and other assorted friends. Before we left that morning, I walked to the side of the new house and got my walking stick which I had moved over from the old house, and his face lit up at the familiar sight. We set off to the Pinehurst Tributary of Rock Creek and played in the water there all day (it was 70 degrees and perfect). It was a good first day for us both.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 48

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 48

Hi Everyone! It’s 70 degrees and sunny out and my window is open here and that alone has really picked up my spirits. It’s been a long and dreary winter and I’m very happy that it’s finally coming to an end (although somehow snow is in the forecast for next week). I’ve gotten myself on the vaccination wait-list here in Washington, so now I’m just waiting to hear back from them which will hopefully be sooner rather than later. I’ve been doubling my walks this week, trying to start losing some of this weight and bring my blood sugar back down to a reasonable level and the improved weather has really helped motivate me for that. My mom’s hip is improving every day since last week’s surgery and Mason and I are both happy to have our feet back in the water. It hasn’t been the most productive week in the world, but it’s been pretty good.

Mason and I have been spending longer and longer outside every day and it’s much easier on both of us to not have to get geared up in the morning. Yesterday I brought a pair of shorts and his water shoes for him to change into, and even though the water was still pretty chilly we both got out into it – me up to my ankles and Mason to his knees. Standing in the creek, pulling rocks out and throwing them – he looked like the happiest kid on the planet. We’re watching signs of spring emerge all around us as the buds are coming out, the geese are flying north and the robins are everywhere. Mason’s cousins taught him that the early flowers blooming now are crocuses, and he happily points them out in all of their beautiful colors. We’ve seen deer in the park on two separate occasions this week, which is a real treat for a city kid, and we keep our ears tilted skyward to listen for woodpeckers. Mason is pretty awesome at identifying birds for a two year-old. We also saw a mounted park police officer this week which was pretty sweet as horses are also not a part of our daily experience here. The list of things Mason has randomly told me he loves has grown to include: blueberries, napkins, pandas, the moon, crocuses, raccoons, jellyfish and airplanes. His vocabulary continues to grow and his sentences are more complete every day. Tomorrow I am off to meet him at his new house for the first time which I think we’re both looking forward to. I went and scouted out the woods nearby over the weekend and have found plenty of places for us to get our feet wet, touch mushrooms and explore.

Last Friday, my folks and I had to move our weekly celebration up to the second floor because my mom was still in a lot of pain from her hip surgery on Tuesday. I was hoping she could come down to the first floor and we could enjoy some Swiss culture in front of the fireplace, but she wasn’t up to it so we came to her instead. I made us some delicious traditional fondue and we listened to some Swiss folk and alpenhorn music. I have spent a fair bit of time in Switzerland in my life, and it was nice to think of some of the beautiful places I’ve been there. I hope to see more of it sooner rather than later.

Saturday was a really wonderful day outside and I spent a lot of time in my van. A lot of the things I’ve been working on are small things, but it was nice to get a bunch of them accomplished and cross them off my to-do list. I’m going to spend some time showing y’all the inside of my van soon and will try and explain what everything is and how it all works when I’m on the road. It really is an interesting process and lifestyle and I’m eager to invite you all over for a virtual look in the months to come.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 45

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 45

Hello Everyone! It’s been a busy week of celebrating Mardi Gras here in Washington with plenty of eating, drinking, music and good times. It was a great weekend to stay in and let the good times roll since it was so cold and windy and icy out. Mardi Gras has definitely been the name of our game this week, but I’ve still been hanging out with Mason and we continue to spend time outside despite the cold weather. His parents have bought a house, which everyone is very excited about, and while that would definitely qualify as the best news of the week, my folks also got their second vaccine shot this week which comes in a very close second.

The weather has been the big topic of conversation this week, as snowstorms have dumped their loads across the country. We haven’t seen our share yet, but it’s supposed to hit overnight tonight and leave us with 6 inches covered by a layer of ice. We’ll see what comes, but we’re ready for it whatever does. We got a shipment of firewood in today, we’re stocked up on salt for the sidewalks, our shovels are at the ready and Mason has a brand new sled to enjoy it with. In contrast to what’s supposedly coming, today has been an absolutely brilliant day out, despite the cold, so at least we got a little sunshine to lift our spirits.

Mason and I have been on a woodpecker kick this week as there have been a few flying around Whitehaven Park near his house. We will wait and listen for them and then try and follow the sound and spot them. We’ve only managed to see one this week, but I think it’s an interesting experience for him. He has wonderfully perceptive hearing and will often hear ambulances and helicopters at quite a distance, and that has helped in our woodpecker quest. We have also found some wonderful groves of mushrooms this week due to all of the moisture which we’ve both really gotten a kick out of. The buds are starting to blossom on some of the trees and we spotted some cherry blossoms pushing their way out today which was really special. We’ve started talking about his new house, which he’s excited about. I’m thrilled there are some good parks nearby for us to explore and am looking forward to a change of scenery myself. His sentences are getting longer and more complete and he’s a really neat little kid to spend time with. It has its challenges sometimes, but he’s a wonderful little companion and I enjoy our adventures together as much as he does.

This past Friday, we kicked off our Mardi Gras weekend with Happy Hour in the basement. There was music, a variety of Abita beer, and a fun game of dominoes. Then we moved our celebration back to the living room so we could enjoy the fireplace and shifted our theme to the Lunar New Year. I cooked up some longevity noodles and some spring rolls and then we played a few rounds of the board game Lattice Hawaii. It was a nice evening as usual, and a great end to the week…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 43

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 43

Hello Everyone and Happy February! This is going to be a short post this week because there really hasn’t been too much going on. We had a pretty decent snowstorm this week here in Washington which has kept things pretty quiet and close to home. I’ve enjoyed the visual change of pace the snow has brought and also enjoying it with my little buddy, Mason. I’ve been struggling with depression this week though, which I’ve managed to keep at bay for much of the last few months and I can’t say I’m thrilled by its reappearance. All in all, though, it’s been a pretty quiet week.

Towards the end of last week, Mason and I went on some really long walks around his neighborhood which we both really enjoyed. On Friday we zigged where we normally zag in one spot and 20 minutes later found ourselves on the shore of a massive (by D.C. standards) pond. It had been pretty cold, so the surface was frozen solid and we stood there and talked about ice and water for a long time. Then we threw some sticks which skittered across the surface to our collective delight. Big rocks managed to crash through the surface, but only to make a divot. While I was holding both of his hands above his head with my feet planted firmly on the boardwalk just in case, Mason took a few slippery steps across the ice. For a kid who loves the water, I think this was a really cool experience.

Our week ended with our usual end-of-week basement celebration. Last Friday we celebrated Up-Helly-Aa, the Scottish Viking Fire Festival. We started with drinks and sea shanties in the basement and then played a nice game of Muggins (dominoes). Then we came upstairs and had a nice fire in the fireplace. I had made a delicious Scottish potato-leek soup and some bannock (skillet bread), and both were perfect for a cold winter night. It was another successful celebration! These next two weekends we’ll be bringing it home to Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras before seeing where our virtual journey takes us next.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day here, but really just bitterly cold and windy. It was a shame to not be able to go and enjoy it somewhere, but it really was unpleasant to be out in. Late Saturday night it began to snow and continued through much of Sunday and on into Monday. It was a very nice, dry, light snow which was easy to shovel but made for a pretty scene outside. We were all a little surprised at the amount of snow we got, but as I mentioned it is nice to see something a little different looking out the windows.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 42

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 42

Hello Everyone! This is the last post for January, which is hard for me to believe. The time really is going quickly here. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that my political opinions won’t be making an appearance today. It’s been a rough couple of months, and being in Washington it’s hard to escape it, but I’m sure going to try. I have enough things to focus on without getting mired down in something I have very little control over.

The most exciting thing that happened this week is that my folks got their first vaccine shot. This is wonderful news and we’re very grateful to the folks at Howard University for making it happen. I’m really hoping the federal government will ramp up the vaccination as promised and that we can all have ours before the summer.

Young Mason continues to make me smile with his good humor and big smile. Last week we were sitting at breakfast and we were discussing each other’s shirts, which is a common occurrence over his morning meal. I had on a shirt from the amazing total solar eclipse I got to lead a trip to see in Wyoming a few years ago. He pointed out what looked like the moon to him, but was actually the sun so I explained what the eclipse was and how it worked and what it was like to see it. Once I was done explaining it, he hopped up and went and got one of his books about space and we looked at the sun and the moon together. It was pretty cool.

On one of our walks this week we were out in one of the parks in his neighborhood which has a grove of bamboo in it. He always points out the bamboo, and I ask if he sees any pandas around which he never does (but growing up in Washington, I know he will see them often at the National Zoo). A few minutes later he picked up a huge log and told me it was a panda and carried it all the way home. The next day we took his panda to “the lake”, which is really just a small pool along one of the creeks we visit, and he hurled it in. He really loves throwing things in the water, even things he seems to really like. I definitely don’t understand everything he does or says, and he would probably tell you the same about me, but we sure do have interesting adventures together.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 41

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 41

Hello Everyone! Another week has come and gone and January is moving right along here at home in Washington. We’ve had some warm and sunny days this week and trees are starting to bud and some plants are waking from their winter slumber. Mason and I continue our daily adventures around Glover Park, and my mom and I took a nice long trip out to western Virginia over the weekend. And, of course, the United States has entered a new presidential era. While all of these things have been great, and certainly good distraction, I don’t want you to think I’ve forgotten the reason why I am here, which continues to worsen by the day.

It was a year ago now that the first documented cases of Covid19 showed up in the United States. This coming week the death toll here will surpass the total number of Americans who died during World War II. In other comparisons as far as American deaths go, we are now suffering one September 11th every 18 hours and one D-Day every 30 hours. I can’t get my vaccine fast enough and hope my folks can get theirs before the end of the month. That would certainly be a step in the right direction. I’m also hoping the incoming administration will take the whole thing a lot more seriously. Had now former-President Trump taken it a little more seriously, I believe he would have won this election in a landslide. We’ve tried things his way for long enough and clearly whatever their plan or lack thereof is failing and I’m grateful we’ll be heading in a different direction.

Congratulations to now-President Joe Biden and our first female Vice President Kamala Harris. I’m certainly wishing them the best of luck in the days and years to come. This is not a partisan statement; I think we should all have that sentiment as a new presidential administration begins. If you wish failure on someone entering those positions, I would sincerely question your patriotism. I felt the same four years ago when Donald Trump took his oath of office. Knowing of his almost absolute lack of experience in government, I was hoping he would do what I would do in a similar situation – surround himself with the best and brightest to move the country forward and make him look good. Especially as an outsider, I would have sought out the most qualified people in the country regardless of political affiliation and brought them on board to help “drain the swamp” and do remarkable things. Instead he surrounded himself with people he believed would be loyal regardless of their backgrounds and dug deeper in the mud. Many of the issues which are important to me, like the environment and public education, took some pretty serious hits over the last four years. Outside of his policy decisions, he brought almost constant negativity and division and that’s from his own Twitter feed, not from the press. I’m really hoping that Biden can make some real progress over the next four years. As a country, we are definitely better together than we are apart.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 40

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 40

Hello Everyone. It’s been an emotional week here in Washington D.C. as I’m sure you can all imagine, but we’re hanging in. I’ve spent a lot of the last week trying to process what happened last Wednesday and reading entirely too much news. I have, of course, still been spending time with my little buddy, Mason, and he continues to grow and learn every day. I’ve also been playing some music this week and trying to increase my exercise level to try and drop some of this pandemic weight. I want to be back in traveling shape when traveling comes back into my life. Overall it’s been a contemplative week and one that I very much hope doesn’t foreshadow what is to come in the days, weeks and months ahead.

My head is still spinning from the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. Much like in the days following 9/11 I’ve been very consumed with the news this week. Of course back then there was no social media, so we at least knew that the stories we read were written by people with an education in their background, a fact checker in their newsrooms and a job/professional integrity to protect. Now it’s just all over the place and it seems there will be no consensus on what happened that day any time soon. Suffice it to say that my personal opinion is that anyone who entered the Capitol that day, unless they were a credentialed journalist, should be arrested, tried and sentenced for unlawful entry and sedition. It seems pretty clear to me that some of the people who went in were prepared, disciplined and intent on causing harm to our Senators and Representatives. Others were simply cartoonish buffoons meant to distract the world with their outfits and juvenile antics. All of them, however, should be sought out and punished to the fullest extent of the law. All Americans, no matter your party, race, religion or background should be appalled by this act. If you don’t like the system, seek to change the system through elections, courts, organization etc. When you seek to overthrow the duly elected government through violence and intimidation, I have no sympathy for you. While I don’t condone any violence which has happened this year by anyone, anywhere, this was the United States Capitol. If people can’t see the difference, I don’t know what to say to them. As the sister story about those charged with defending the Capitol unfolds, I hope we will get a clearer picture as to why and how the Capitol was allowed to be breached in the first place. It didn’t seem like it was a big secret that people were coming to Washington that day intent on causing trouble, and while the vast majority of people who came were peaceful, there was enough of a threat to at least have had the National Guard at the ready. Right now, I hope President Trump will go on television and tell all of those who are planning on coming to the inauguration that if they come with the intention of violence not to do it in his name (he did make a press release today to this effect). January 6th, 2021 is a day that people will be reading about in history books years from now and it really didn’t need to happen.

As we watched people storming through our hallowed halls, I listened to what many of them were saying and it was much the same rhetoric I’ve heard so often over the last few years – something along the lines of “we’re taking our country back”. I can’t help but wonder every time I hear this who this “our” is referring to. Isn’t it my country too? Isn’t it as much Bernie Sanders’ country as it is Mitch McConnell’s country as it is Steve in Detroit’s country? I truly don’t understand this us vs. them mentality and it bothers me. We are all Americans and we need to start acting like we believe this. The two places we can start are fighting this pandemic together and condemning anyone who invades our Capitol building.

Thankfully amidst it all, young Mason has no concerns about politics and has kept me sane as usual through an insane time…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 37

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 37

Hello Everyone. A vaccine is rolling down the highways of America which means there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this extended pause in my travel plans. Of course it’s still going to be a while before I get mine, but it’s still been a great bit of news this week and I’m very excited about it. My van has to get through inspection here in D.C. in May and I am really hoping to hit the road the very next day if that’s at all possible and have the whole summer wide open in front of me. Time will tell, but there’s a possibility it will happen and for now that’s good enough. Beyond that, it’s been a week of ups and downs so I’m latching onto the vaccine news to help me get through the week and help keep my spirits up in this festive season.

Mason and I continue to keep each other on our toes and entertained. He continues to grow and learn and develop every single day, and his companionship and good humor have definitely been one of my saving graces these last few months. I would have gotten through this time without him, but I’m glad that’s not how it went. By the time I hope to leave, he’ll be 3 and on his way to bigger and better things, but he’ll know a lot more about nature and the seasons and holidays and I think he’ll be better off for that in the long run. This week we’ve been enjoying time by the Christmas tree at his house, and he loves showing off the ornaments on their tree. Every day this week we’ve sat on the couch in the glow of the tree and read The Night Before Christmas and The Polar Express. He loves to show me that they have bell ornaments on their tree which look almost exactly like Santa’s bells in The Polar Express. He definitely know who Santa is (and still calls him “danta”) and he knows what Santa says (“ho ho ho”). We’ve been seeing Santa and reindeer and snowmen all over the neighborhood and while I think there was more fun stuff to see over Halloween, it’s still fun. He’s been really good about wrapping up, and we continue to enjoy being outside even as temperatures dip near freezing. We’ve had some inside days too when it’s been raining out, and it’s definitely gotten easier to stay in all day as he’s gotten older. We have done some coloring, read some good books, played with his trucks and stuffed animals and spent a lot of time discussing the toilet which he is getting better with. And whether we’re inside or out, we always find the time for many rounds of his favorite game “no me” which is kind of like hide and seek, but he’s usually either under a blanket or under a chair or under a tree if we’re outside. Even though he’s right there, his stuffed animals and I spend a lot of time looking for him.

When I went out to drive my van last Thursday after picking it up from the shop on Wednesday, the “check engine” light came on immediately and it ran really poorly and spewed out thick smoke. I was really disappointed after the amount of money I’d spent to get it fixed last week. I called the shop and eventually had it towed out there. They couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I have it back but it’s definitely not running like it used to. As much as I love my hometown, I would never recommend getting work done on your car here. It’s overpriced and I’ve never found a mechanic I was happy with. Pretty much everywhere else in the country I’ve gotten work done I’ve met honest people who get it right the first time and treat me fairly because it’s the right thing to do. I think they like working on Mercedes and BMWs and not on my clunky old van. I like the guy who runs the shop I’ve taken it to these last two times, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it because it goes in with one set of problems and comes out with another.

After that disappointment, I really needed a day at the beach. It being December in Washington, the best I could do was to throw a beach party in my basement with my folks, which is exactly what we did with our Friday night. I’ve spent Christmas in the Caribbean more than once, and our party brought back a lot of good memories of my time in the islands. We had some jerk chicken, fresh cut mango and pineapple and some great peel and eat shrimp. There was great music, boat drinks and a few rounds of Lattice Hawaii which is a really great board game. It was another fun Friday night and left me feeling much better about the world in general…

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 36

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 36

Hello Everyone! We are now just over three weeks away from 2021! I, for one, will welcome the New Year with open arms and a heart full of hope for a better year for us all. For all of the challenges 2020 has brought both to me personally and to us collectively, I continue to be grateful for the blessings in my life and the opportunities that have come along as well. It’s been an amazing experience to spend time with a 2 year-old and a 13 year-old and help them along in whatever way I could this year. I’ve also gotten to spend a lot of time with my folks here in Washington and know that I’m helping keep them safe and vice-versa. I’ve also been grateful to have some time to explore my hometown more than I ever have before which has brought me a lot of joy and contentment. While I’m looking forward to getting a vaccine and getting back on the road as soon as possible in 2021, I will always look back at this year as a time I was able to stop, reflect on the blessings I have in this life and make real plans for the future.

Speaking of a vaccine, there’s definitely been good news this week on that front. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved and the first shots administered in the UK. Approval should be right around the corner here in the US, and then the long and slow process of administering it can begin. I read yesterday morning that the FDA’s initial perusal of the application for approval was extremely positive. I know there are plenty of people out there who have read a lot of whacky things regarding the upcoming vaccine and vaccines in general for that matter. With all the travel I’ve done in my life, I’ve gotten every vaccine available and will gladly step to the front of the line for this one. I have plenty of family and friends in the medical industry and they have their people who they listen to and trust. If they tell me this is a go, I’m in. I simply don’t have time to waste on conspiracy theories and look forward to moving ahead with my life.

This week has been another busy week with my 2 year-old buddy, Mason. I’m happy that he’s continued to want to go outside and play despite the temperatures dropping into the thirties and forties. We bundle up tight but we’ve still been getting outside and going for long walks in neighborhood. He really loves running through the big piles of leaves and spent today sitting in one and just throwing the leaves up and watching them float down. It was a joy to watch him enjoying such a simple pleasure so much, and he’s definitely gotten me to run through more leaf piles than I have in many a year. We continue to look for berries, acorns and pretty colored leaves and he has been good about having me take off his mittens so he can grab these treasures and then letting me put them back on immediately after. We’ve also been having fun watching dead leaves float down the stream in the park as well, which really is pretty cool. He’s enjoying the few Christmas decorations which have sprung up around the neighborhood this week, but is particularly fond of his Christmas tree at home and loves showing me all the different ornaments and the stocking his grandmother sent him. Today we were reading the Night Before Christmas, and he is starting to recognize “Danda” (Santa). In one picture with Santa and his reindeer he was telling me that the reindeer were named Nick and Matt which are his cousin’s names (Nick is the young man I tutor on Mondays). I couldn’t figure it out, and then realized the text talks about “St. Nick” and the only Nick he knows is his cousin. Since he knows who Santa is, the reindeer must be the Nick they keep referring to and since Nick and Matt are twins, his brother must be one of the other reindeer. At least that’s how my mind processed what he said. Either way, he’s enjoying the holiday season so far and I’m enjoying it right alongside him.

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 32

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D.C. Chronicles Volume 32

Hello Everyone! It’s been a beautiful week here in Washington D.C. with warm, sunny days and cool clear nights. In some ways this is all very familiar to me as I’m usually headed home in October or November, tired from a long year on the road and ready for some “home time” over the holidays. I come home to rest and get my affairs in order and begin to plan for the next leg of my journey, whatever that may be and wherever it may take me. It’s a time to catch up – on my projects, on my sleep and with friends and family. Unlike spring and summer which I’ve rarely spent in the city, this feels more normal to me.

Today also marks the three year anniversary of the journey which became Miles2Go. Three years ago today, I set out for Harpers Ferry, West Virginia with a dream of spending a month in each state over the next 4 years. I soon learned that a month was too short to get a real understanding of a state while also maintaining this blog, so my timeframe changed. There were a lot of tough times and setbacks as I got this thing off the ground, and just when I felt like I knew where it was going and how to make it all work, I hit the cruise control button and then this pandemic hit, turning me towards home and grounding me indefinitely. It’s been a bumpy road for sure, but anything that’s worth it will no doubt involve overcoming obstacles. I don’t know what my future or the future of this project will look like at this point, but I’m grateful for the journey and everything and everyone that’s been a part of it thus-far.

Sadly the reason keeping me here, the coronavirus, has continued to rage across the country with still-worsening conditions being reported every day. As we get closer to a quarter-million deaths from the virus here in the U.S. alone, I wanted to put that number into perspective for you. While 235,000 may be just a fraction of a percent of the population of the U.S. as is often pointed out, it is more than our average annual deaths in this country from any cause other than cancer and heart disease. It’s four times our average annual number of flu and pneumonia deaths (all according to the CDC). It’s also more than the number of Americans who died in World War 1, Vietnam, Korea and the American Revolution combined. It’s more than the single-year casualties from our two bloodiest wars – World War II and the Civil War. Keep these statistics in mind when people tell you that the virus isn’t all that bad. In the entirety of the almost 15 years we were involved in the war in Vietnam, we lost less than a quarter of the number of people who have died from this virus this year, and it’s only mid-November. For some reason people in this country refuse to look beyond our borders to countries which got some level of control over the pandemic through the summer months with masks and distancing and continue to believe it’s all some kind of hoax. 80% of current cases in the U.S. can be traced back to restaurants, bars and gyms.

What should we be doing about this? First and foremost we need to start listening to the experts. This country’s leading medical experts and virologists have laid it out pretty simply from the start, and have been able to make things even clearer as we’ve learned more. And yet people refuse to listen to them, searching out someone, anyone, who will tell them what they want to hear instead of what the consensus of the experts is. I want to get back to my normal life more than anyone, but I’m willing to put that all on hold for the greater good of my countrymen. To me, that’s a pretty good definition of patriotism.

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