Today I find myself sitting in a Starbucks at GW listening to undergrads complain about midterms and graduate students discuss very complex projects. Oh how I wish I was still in school! Last night I dreamt I was in medical school, but I had forgot to schedule any fourth year rotations. Things were obviously not going well, but I didn't care because, in the dream, I didn't want to be a doctor I just wanted to have a baby.
It is nice and strange to be back in the DC area. Some of my (A and my) best times were here. Our dear friend who we are crashing for the month has a charming row house in Frederick. Two fireplaces, a cute fenced in backyard that Clara quite enjoys judging by the holes she dug there yesterday, and lots of creaky floors. Very cute!
After meandering down the east coast last week including getting stuck in traffic in the Bronx (why the GPS routed me through the Bronx, I don't know; further, I don't know why after traveling by car to DC about two dozen times in my life I didn't know a better route on my own) and a brief stop in New Jersey for lunch with a friend, I arrived in Maryland. Despite my generally negative perception of Maryland, Frederick is a charming southern town (mid-southern?). Just a few blocks from where we are staying is a string of parks along a creek. The center piece of the main park is a stone bell tower. Paths meander around fields, a pond, a fountain, an outdoor theater. Just adjacent to the park is a walking path along a canal (not a working canal, but a flood control canal). There is obviously a great appreciation for art objects here because along the canal, in addition to shops, restaurants, and condos, is a trompe l'oeil bridge. On it, several "stones" are painted with pictures to represent Frederick; however, some of them seem strange representations to me. Another foot bridge looks like a modern suspension bridge and a third has intricate wrought iron pieces intertwined with the bridge railings. While Frederick is not a big city, there are streets and streets of old stone and brick row houses and lots of cute shops. Definitely cooler than many medium sized New England cities including the one I live in.
Last weekend, we went to the Myersville Trolley Festival where our host was selling some of her photographs. (Check out her awesome photos at Under the Same Sun). It used to be that trolleys connected much of western Maryland as a way for farmers to get their goods to market. Oh how cars ruined that! But here in Myersville, Maryland, Donald Easterly randomly decided to refurbish a trolley car. And they actually let you inside it! The festival was windy, but we ate some tasty food and listened to some Bluegrass music.
Sunday, I reluctantly, (reluctant only because I am lazy) drove to Annapolis to go to the Maryland Renaissance festival. It was actually great fun! They have quite the grounds for a place that is only open nine weeks a year. The jousting was by far the best. We rooted for Scotland (only by default because we sat on the Scotland side), but Scotland lost. I'm pretty sure based on the wonky scoring that the competition was fixed anyway. The most mind boggling thing about any Renaissance festival, to me anyway, is the extents people, ordinary people not working there, go to to dress up for said festival. I hope these people go to multiple Renaissance festivals every year just to get their monies' worth.
Alas, now I am wishing I was back in college because (oddly) I just love studying and writing papers and having a small and immediate purpose with small and immediate feedback. I suppose editing my students' essay drafts in Starbucks is close enough to being in college. And the best part, I can procrastinate more than I ever did in college.
(My former German professor just sat down at the table next to me! Hee hee hee!)
It is nice and strange to be back in the DC area. Some of my (A and my) best times were here. Our dear friend who we are crashing for the month has a charming row house in Frederick. Two fireplaces, a cute fenced in backyard that Clara quite enjoys judging by the holes she dug there yesterday, and lots of creaky floors. Very cute!
After meandering down the east coast last week including getting stuck in traffic in the Bronx (why the GPS routed me through the Bronx, I don't know; further, I don't know why after traveling by car to DC about two dozen times in my life I didn't know a better route on my own) and a brief stop in New Jersey for lunch with a friend, I arrived in Maryland. Despite my generally negative perception of Maryland, Frederick is a charming southern town (mid-southern?). Just a few blocks from where we are staying is a string of parks along a creek. The center piece of the main park is a stone bell tower. Paths meander around fields, a pond, a fountain, an outdoor theater. Just adjacent to the park is a walking path along a canal (not a working canal, but a flood control canal). There is obviously a great appreciation for art objects here because along the canal, in addition to shops, restaurants, and condos, is a trompe l'oeil bridge. On it, several "stones" are painted with pictures to represent Frederick; however, some of them seem strange representations to me. Another foot bridge looks like a modern suspension bridge and a third has intricate wrought iron pieces intertwined with the bridge railings. While Frederick is not a big city, there are streets and streets of old stone and brick row houses and lots of cute shops. Definitely cooler than many medium sized New England cities including the one I live in.
Last weekend, we went to the Myersville Trolley Festival where our host was selling some of her photographs. (Check out her awesome photos at Under the Same Sun). It used to be that trolleys connected much of western Maryland as a way for farmers to get their goods to market. Oh how cars ruined that! But here in Myersville, Maryland, Donald Easterly randomly decided to refurbish a trolley car. And they actually let you inside it! The festival was windy, but we ate some tasty food and listened to some Bluegrass music.
Sunday, I reluctantly, (reluctant only because I am lazy) drove to Annapolis to go to the Maryland Renaissance festival. It was actually great fun! They have quite the grounds for a place that is only open nine weeks a year. The jousting was by far the best. We rooted for Scotland (only by default because we sat on the Scotland side), but Scotland lost. I'm pretty sure based on the wonky scoring that the competition was fixed anyway. The most mind boggling thing about any Renaissance festival, to me anyway, is the extents people, ordinary people not working there, go to to dress up for said festival. I hope these people go to multiple Renaissance festivals every year just to get their monies' worth.
Alas, now I am wishing I was back in college because (oddly) I just love studying and writing papers and having a small and immediate purpose with small and immediate feedback. I suppose editing my students' essay drafts in Starbucks is close enough to being in college. And the best part, I can procrastinate more than I ever did in college.
(My former German professor just sat down at the table next to me! Hee hee hee!)
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