Last Day in DC

Yesterday I woke up and the humidity and temperature had dropped.  Good thing I had packed a sweater.  With it being cloudy and in the 50's, I needed it.

The last day of class was a good one.  Actually, the whole week in the classroom was really helpful.  Our instructors made the material come to life with their real world examples.  The people at my table had much to offer and I enjoyed the whole week with them.  At the same time, when class was dismissed, I did not linger.  I shook my instructors' hands, said one or two goodbyes and headed for the shuttle bus.  Since the shuttle didn't go all the way to Main State, I got off in Rosslyn and then took the Metro to Foggy Bottom.  I walked down 21st instead of my usual 23rd Street.  I passed by the gates of George Washington University.

Going through the gates, I found more sculpture and a fountain.

I continued down the hill and passed by more art on the sidewalk.  I love the metal among the flowers.

I resumed walking to C Street.  I had told Nedim that I had gotten him a T-shirt at the gift shop.  But he had wanted a hat.  So, I went back to the gift shop and got him a hat.  I lucked out in my timing because I was able to catch one of the last shuttles back to Rosslyn.  I didn't have to walk back up the hill to I street to the Metro.  When I got off the bus in Rosslyn, I decided to investigate a sculpture piece that I had seen every day in the road median.  Without my distance glasses, I had no idea what it was.  All I could tell was it was big, shiny, and metal.  I missed the colorful detail.

The piece itself is titled Cupid's Garden, made my Chris Gardener.

All around the big metal sculpted arrows are crocheted things.  There are snakes

and birds

a bunny

snail

mushrooms

and flowers in what looks like fishing nets.

It is wild.

I don't fully understand what was going on, but I sure had fun taking pictures.

I walked the few blocks back to the hotel to pick up my suitcase and get a cab to the airport.  I didn't know if I would encounter huge holiday traffic mess, so I asked for the cab to pick me up at 5:30.  I didn't have to worry at all.  Ten minutes later, my cabby dropped me off right in front of the terminal.  It wasn't 6:00 and my flight's scheduled departure was 8:00.  That gave me plenty of time to sit in a rocking chair in front of a huge wall of windows and watch the planes land.

We boarded on time.  I had the window seat on the right side of plane.  I took a few pictures while on the ground and waiting to take off.

Unfortunately, it was so windy and the plane was buffeted in the air, so when we were over areas of interest, I couldn't get a crisp looking picture.  I did get the Capitol Building

and the White House (lower right)

and I'm not sure.

The clouds filled in pretty quickly.

And then it was just the full moon.

At midnight, after planes, trains, and automobiles, I pulled into the driveway, so glad to be home.