Winter Storm Marcus

Winter Storm Marcus arrived and I needed to get out of town.  Today was another travel day and another winter storm making an impact.  My hubby and Lovey Lamb drove me to work this morning at 10:30 so that I could pick up the car at the office.  We had two or three inches of snow on the ground already.  According to the weatherman, we were due for a lull in the storm mid-morning through the early afternoon before it picked back up in intensity and dropped another foot or so on us.  My travel orders said that I could pick up the car at 11:00.  At 11:02 I signed for the keys with the security officers and left the building.

The car is new and has all-wheel drive.  Most excellent.  Driving in a vehicle that isn't mine and is unfamiliar, in a snow storm produces anxiety for me.  I had driven off the Base/Trade port and was about to turn on to the highway when I realized that none of the inside lights had turned off.  I pulled into the gas station and open and closed all the doors.  I looked in the glove box for a user manual and didn't find one.  So I turned around and went back to the office and asked the officers if they could help me.  The first guy said, "I drive a Ford and that is is Dodge, so I can't help."

Beautiful.  I stood there and waited for somebody else to say something.  Silence.  Finally, he motioned for one of the other officers in the back to come outside and take a look.  I opened the door, turned on the car, and the officer did something that I couldn't see.  I shut the door and all the lights went off.  He smiled.  "What did you do?" He motioned to a dial by the light switch that had been put to high when it should have been on low.  I was slightly embarrassed, but so glad that I got that taken care of before I began my drive.

And what a drive it was.  Due to the snow, the highway speed limit had been reduced to 45 miles per hour.  Every 30 miles or so there would be a car off the side of the road, facing the wrong way, or teetering on the guard rails, or perpendicular to the road, in a snow pile.  It was enough to keep the cars going slowly and not pushing the speed.  There were several times when I wished I could pull over and take a picture of something by the side of the road, but I didn't want to pull over...ever.  Many of the break down lanes were snow covered.  There were many sets of snowplows out, clearing the road and you didn't want to be over to the side.  There were two sets of road conditions.  One had the right side pretty clear and the passing decent.  The snow in the middle made for a delicate lane shifting.

And then a decent right lane and a not good left lane.

I think the drive, in normal conditions, takes around 3 and a half hours.  Mine took 5 hours, and really 6, if you count the time that I began at our house.  I'm grateful that I wasn't ever scared on the road.  There were a few times when the oncoming traffic didn't seem to interested in yielding to the line of cars already on the highway.  I didn't want to slam on my brakes and going into the passing lane wasn't always an option.  A couple of times I did find myself yelling out loud, "Don't pull in.  Don't pull in!  DON'TPULLIN!"

I'm wondering if there will be school tomorrow.  Kids have missed the last two Mondays due to snow.  We have a lot.  And this system is supposed to give us another 10"- 18" or so.  Not sure where we area going to put it all.  Our driveway is pretty narrow right now.  We can't see our right light post. I think everybody is tired of shoveling.

In other news, on Facebook, my MHC friend, Christine Ray challenged me to a 3 x 5 artist challenge -- post 3 photos of your work for 5 days.  I don't self identify as an artist, but I can get creative.  For the first day, I posted 3 needlepoint ornaments.

Today I added three black and white pictures from when I had access to the school's darkroom.  I had developed the film and printed the pictures myself. The building photos were taken at the Junipero Serra Museum/Mission in San Diego.  I love that building.  The statue photo I took in Santa Fe, NM when Heather and I were there together.  It has always reminded me of three ladies, and specifically, Heather, Mom, and I.  I loved working in the darkroom and seeing the images appear as I moved the paper from one chemical bath to another.

When I was driving today, I hit on a great classical music station.  I'm around Montpelier, listening to the Boston Symphony Orchestra play Scheherazade, and looking at the mountains and the different shades of gray.  I imagined quilting that view.  It had great lines -- sloping mountain sides in progression, the road drawing your attention and giving movement to the landscape, and layers of trees. I would need fabric that is silver, charcoal, pewter, gray, slate, ash, lead, white, the darkest, blackest green.  How many different shades of gray are there?  Those were a few fun miles, almost magical in the quiet of the snow...my mind engaged in thinking about fabric, and wishing I could photograph the view for reflection later on.

Anyway, I just got a text from the VT Agency director letting everybody know that he doesn't anticipate any problems with folks getting to work tomorrow.  The heavy snow band is south of here.  I am fine with trying to find the Agency in better weather.  This is a stretch assignment for me, as I will be supervising and acting in the manager capacity also.  I'm excited and nervous, both.  I'm here for two work weeks and going back home to enjoy the long weekend.  Had I known about the mandatory DC workshop,  I would not have volunteered for this opportunity.  Three work weeks away is tough.  But I didn't know and here I am.

I wonder what souvenir I can bring home from this excursion?

Last DC day

I got in too late last night to post my day's recap...but here it is.

I had a great last day yesterday. I was up and out of the hotel by 8:00.  I walked down 17th street, past the Corcoran Gallery where I finally found some lions.  I had been looking for a lion or a dragon that I could photograph and post for Heather and JT.  They had seen so many in Paris and I thought it would be fun if I could reciprocate.

I continued south for a block or two until I came to the Red Cross complex.  I was taking a picture of a statue that was a gift from the Armenian People in appreciation of the help they received after the 1988 earthquake, when a woman stopped and asked me if I was a tourist or did I work there.  I said that I was a working tourist, but not for the Red Cross.

She invited me to look in their courtyard where there were other statues.  How nice was that?  I would not have ventured into that area without an invitation.

To the men & women of the Red Cross who gave their lives in the service of mankind

For Jane Delano & other nurses who died in WWI

Then I had to hustle to the workshop.  It was a great last day.  At the Bureau staff meeting, I ran into a colleague that is doing a detail elsewhere and I had hoped to run into her.  We got to hug and say hello and that was satisfying.  Soon enough it was 5:00 and we were saying goodbye to new friends.  I had 45 minutes until I had to be back at the hotel where I would pick up my bags and get the taxi to the airport.  I walked up 18th street to I where I popped into Pret and bought a brie, tomato and basil sandwich for later.

I started to circle back to the hotel when I started noticing these haiku signs.

Next thing I knew, I was looking for the signs and not really paying attention to where I was actually going.  I ended up south of the hotel and back at 17th.  I looked up and realized that there were great reflections in the glass office buildings.

And then I noticed that the top architectural details of the Eisenhower Executive Building were glowing in the setting sun.  I had walked past that building at least once a day and had not taken a single picture.  It is such a behemoth of a structure and I couldn't get a handle on how to make it interesting without any special lenses or filters.  The light gave me a hook.

Since I was there, I went back to take one more picture of the White House.  It was so cold that I had few people in my way.  Later I found that I hadn't captured anything new, but I had taken one more with the Jackson statue in the foreground.  That is what I felt like, tipping my cap in a goodbye DC salute.

And as my fingers were turning red and stiff with cold, I walked around the other statues in Lafayette Square that I hadn't gotten to the other morning alternating between hands in my coat pocket and on my camera.

As I walked the two blocks back to the hotel, my Lovey Lamb called with questions on his homework.  I walked those last blocks reviewing how to subtract fractions that don't have the same common denominator.

Staying at the AKA was so much fun.  I had a suite of rooms with two large bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room area.  There were two bathrooms and a washer and dryer.  I didn't use all the amenities since I slept there for three nights.  But what a great place to stay when we do the family sight seeing trip!

My ride to the airport was uneventful.

The flights going into Boston were delayed due to the wind and runway conditions in Boston.  I lucked out and flew standby on an earlier flight that had been delayed.  Coincidentally, the man sitting next to me was an architect.  My seat was on the left hand side.  While I didn't get to take pictures of the Capitol as we flew out of town, my seat turned out to be exactly perfect as we flew over New York City.  What I found so cool is that in the bottom picture, I think I can make out the Freedom Tower (I don't think it is a bridge), the lights of mid-town, and the large rectangle shape of Central Park.

We had to circle Providence, RI before we got cleared to land in Boston.  We touched down at 8:59.  At 9:08 I pulled my bag off the luggage carousel.  I ran the length of Concourse C and got there in time to catch the 9:10 bus to Portsmouth.  The bus starts at terminal A at 9:10 and stops at all the other terminals.  Since I stood outside C, the bus arrived around 9:20.  Had I not make that flight, I would have had to wait to catch the 10:10 bus.  We pulled into Portsmouth and saw snow mountains.  I am in my hubby's debt as he found my car during the day and cleared it off.  Feelings of gratitude and love washed over me when I saw my car.

At 10:40 at night, in 4 degree weather with the wind whipping through the parking lot, I was so thankful that my car did not look like this

or this.

I had tossed in a snow shovel on Monday when I left, but it would have taken me a long time to dig out.  I probably would have gone back inside the bus station and cried.  Relief that I didn't have to.  I pulled into my driveway at 11:00, an hour earlier than I had originally expected.  Yay for standby success.

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed for this weekend as I am scheduled to provide management support in Vermont on Monday.  And another storm or two are headed our way.

Morning photo shoot

This morning I decided to take advantage of the warmer temperature and take a quick walk around Lafayette Square before my workshop.  I had spent some time in that square in 2011 when I took a photography class and if I remember correctly, we took pictures of the President Jackson statue in the center.  Today, I had time to capture two of the other statues.  The first one at the northwest corner has Commemoration on one side and Military on the other.

Love the headgear!

There was a softness to the light this morning that I really liked.  I walked down the center of the square and took a picture of the White House.  It looks different in daylight!

At the southwest corner is Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau.

And that is what I had time for because I wanted to stop for coffee and not be late.

Today's session was good.  Many of my colleagues who got stuck in the snow had been able to fly out of Boston last night.  Most arrived really late, but at least they made it.  At lunch, a few of us power walked to Main State to go to the gift shop.  On the way back, one of the women said to me, "Have I told you how grateful I am that you have a sense of direction and that you know where you are going?"  I think she did the other night, but that was OK.  I got us there and back without getting turned around and on time.  We had 13 minutes to spare before the afternoon session began.

I was in a quandary about where to go tonight, my last.  I debated between Dupont Circle and Georgetown.  Dupont would have given me a good walk.  However, I didn't want to walk back all by myself.  I chose to take the yellow line of the DC Circulator from 16th and K street over to Georgetown and back.  My original thinking was to go to my favorite Turkish restaurant.  But that was up a ways on Wisconsin and I wanted to make an early night of it.  After getting off the bus, I walked west along M street until I came to Paradiso Pizzeria.  I ordered a small 4 cheese pizza that was delicious.  The service was prompt and I was in and out in no time.

Across the street I spotted Georgetown Cupcake where I bought a vegan apple cinnamon cupcake. Yum!  A great way to end my day.  Now I get to pack up, hit the sack, and be ready to check out by 8:30 tomorrow morning.  As much as I have recharged, gotten reconnected with our Bureau, and felt refreshed these past couple of days, I'm ready to go home and hug my guys.