There's no place like home...

Naturally we had to make a pilgrimage to see Dorothy's ruby red slippers. There was a time when 4-year-old Maddy had a particular obsession with all things Wizard of Oz, including her own pair of sparkly red shoes that she wore EVERYWHERE.

We also toured Georgetown University, went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (which we never did in all the years we lived there), attended Eryn's wedding and reception, shopped for school clothes, and had breakfast at Eastern Market with Brigham (my cousin), Jennie, and Dalton (off walking during this shot) before heading home.

It was a good last hurrah for summer. Although we did hit this on 95 while driving home (note the people out of their cars and lounging around on the shoulder; this was completely stopped traffic for about an hour):

Ruby red slippers, where are you when I need you?

p.s. We made it home in one piece. First day of school: tomorrow.

Stone of hope

We were happy to be able to check out the newly opened (but not yet dedicated, thanks to Hurricane Irene) Martin Luther King Jr. memorial while in DC.  It was a gorgeous evening--my favorite time between sunset and dark.

This is the entrance out of which that middle part becomes this:

the stone of hope with MLK facing across the pond to Thomas Jefferson (a little irony?). There are a handful of MLK quotes on the surrounding interior wall like this one:

When we lived in Washington DC, our architect friend called from the other side of the country and asked me to go to a certain point on the tidal basin, across from the Jefferson Memorial, and take a few photos. His firm was submitting a design for the competition for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial that was slated to be located there and they wanted a few more visuals of the area.  Fast forward a decade+ and it was really amazing to see how the memorial ended up (though not created by our friend's firm after all).

On the other side of this statue is a paraphrased quote (I was a drum major for justice peace and righteousness) that has stirred some controversy; Maya Angelou said it makes MLK sound like a twit when the lengthier passage demonstrates his truer humility. I do like the longer quote better but, of course, that wouldn't have fit on the statue.

Either way, it's a lovely tribute on the whole.  Jefferson + FDR + MLK + Lincoln are not bad company for an evening walk.

Going postal

We decided to make a quick jaunt south to Washington DC before the school year starts next week. The daughter of our longtime friends (the Fifes) was getting married there so it seemed like the perfect time to have a road trip.

Since we used to live in DC, we wanted to mix in some new-to-us sights. Our first stop was the National Postal Museum. Sam had read about it in the Smithsonian Magazine so we thought we'd check it out. 

It's housed in the beautiful old post office headquarters building:

We had it pretty much to ourselves (as with most of the other DC attractions).
Early September travel is lovely. 

Maddy was especially a fan since she's a perpetual post service booster and loves getting and sending real, stamp-and-mailbox letters.

LOVE the mailboxes.    
Next up, the new Martin Luther King memorial...

Small joys today

I've been pretty eeyore-ish lately. I can see that, looking through my last handful of posts. But there are still those daily glimmers, some small joys to notice and celebrate:

~ stumbling upon The Waltons while Maddy and I cleaned out our closets and sorted through old clothes the last two afternoons. So wholesome, so days-gone-by. I always thought Olivia was a beautiful, wise mom and had a little crush on Jim-Bob (hey! he could fix lots of things!). I still dream of a white farmhouse on a mountain...

~ my newly-weeded out closet

~ my sunny office/crafty room, formerly Maddy's bedroom (+ she's happy to now have the former studio for her room):

~ installing long-owned items with lingering good (inactive) intentions, like these ledges that are still works in progress but much better on the wall than in the box:

~ finding quick solutions to my problems today via Facebook: a dog sitter and a CSA crate picker upper. Who knew that all I needed to do was post a status and all my wishes could come true? Thanks, Facebook friends. 

~ watching this video, which makes me want to (a) join in and (b) get some vintage dresses (let's bring back hats! yes?) (via kotke.)

So that's how I'm trying to outrun Eeyore who is, after all, a slow small donkey. Not to mention fictional.
What small joys have you found today?

Now I see...

Sam learned this on the ukelele for Maddy because it's one of her favorites.
I made him re-enact singing it for her for the first time because my camera didn't catch the audio the first time.
Hence, the hint of reluctance on his part.

I adore it.

(Via the awesome 8mm app & my iphone camera.)

p.s. Sorry about the finger sneaking in there. Also, church is already canceled tomorrow, thanks to Irene. Everyone stay safe out there!