1. I've been lazy about going into Washington, D. C. That's a fact. To get myself motivated to not be so inert, I took time this morning to read up on what's happening at the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery, and the National Archives and started planning some trips into our nation's capitol to see some exhibits and listen to some lectures -- starting, I think, on Friday.
2. I drove a short distance to Metzerott Road to a parking lot and I walked on the Paint Branch Trail, past a handsome, grassy (and empty) dog park on down to the University of Maryland. Once on campus, I lost the trail. I'll have to read a map and figure out where it goes. I took a stroll down Paint Branch Drive past demolished buildings and cranes where new ones were being built and observed students and faculty, dismayed that not one of them looked all that happy to be strolling to or from class. Maybe the drained of expression look is an affect, a mask -- okay, no problem. Still, I didn't see one sign of a student having been electrified and surprised by Beowulf or Homer, of being astonished by the wit of Donne's "Valediction Forbidding Mourning", or of being delighted by the playfulness of A Midsummer Night's Dream. So, I remembered back to having these experiences myself, felt the jolt of joy my studies so often gave me, and felt it for them.
3. Molly texted. Hiram was giving lessons at George Mason University. She was low on groceries. Would the Deke and I like to come over for some food -- well, and bring it? Delighted to. It just so happened that I was getting ready to blanch green beans, boil baby potatoes, chop up red onion, grape tomatoes, and sweet peppers to make a salad and I knew I'd be making plenty for both of our families. So I combined these vegetables in a large bowl, mixed together olive oil, crushed garlic, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper, dressed the salad, finishing up just in time to pick up the Deke at school and go over to the Diaz house.
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