Seein’ the DMV: Celebrating the Holidays 2025
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this has been a difficult year for my family. I’ve kept my travels close enough to the DMV that I could get back fairly quickly if needed. With the passing of my eldest sister’s husband in October, I’ve intentionally stayed close to home. Sometimes, though, we are blessed through difficult moments. My sister asked me to sing for the memorial service. I’d stepped away from public performing, but I couldn’t refuse her. The blessing I received was both spiritual — rediscovering that I still have the gift to sing, but I have to change the way I do it — and practical — a limited return to public performance. I am even considering giving a concert in late Spring 2026. More about this if it actually gets past the wishful thinking stage. Holiday Concerts in the DMV Most of November and December was…
Richmond, Kamala Harris Book Tour and Upcoming Trip Thoughts–October 2025
A Stop in Richmond I have been back to Greensboro, North Carolina, since my last post, but it was for the memorial service for my older brother. I’m feeling no need to share comments or pictures except for my decision to exit I-95 in Richmond, Virginia, during my return drive. I impulsively decided to see the rest of the Clock Tower I’ve seen so many times over my life. I’ve never visited Richmond other than driving through, so I was surprised there was a toll machine at the exit. Additionally, I suspect that the area was an older part of town, based on the stonework used on the streets in the vicinity. I had already learned that the Clock Tower was part of Richmond’s Main Street Station, so seeing a train station was expected, yet it was still interesting to see. Some of the pictures are below, with the rest…
Seein’ the DMV: Three Shorts – August-September 2025
There’s a lot going on in my family, so I’ve stayed pretty close to home base lately. However, I did make three short excursions that I’m sharing here. Western Maryland Mountain View – August 28 2025 has been filled with astrological sights, or at least more have come to my attention. One of my efforts has been to find a dark sky site–one where the effects of ground lighting offer no/limited interference to viewing the night sky–within a two-hour drive of home (plus a quickie-trip would give me an excuse to test drive my new prescription shades). My latest effort was a drive to western Maryland, initially to Catoctin Mountain Park. I found numerous hiking trails and cabins for housing, even a swimming pool and various other event sites. I also passed a road with cautionary signage that might have led to Camp David, which I read was in close…
Seein’ the DMV: Mubadala Citi DC Open-July 2025
Monday-Day One I was watching the Wimbledon Open when I realized that I had never seen a live professional tennis match. I’ve enjoyed watching tennis on television since I was introduced to the game in public school and became aware of Arthur Ashe in the early 1970s. Impulsively, I started researching the costs and process of making a one-day trip to New York to see an early round of the US Open. Just as I was forced to acknowledge that my budget required more prep time to handle such an excursion, I learned that there was a tennis tournament–the Mubadala Citi DC Open–scheduled in Washington the next week!! A check of the ticket prices for an early round session indicated that I could make it work. I ordered one of the ADA tickets on the first level of the stadium. On that Monday, I tried to time my drive to…
Seein’ the DMV: Cherry Pie… Um, Blossoms and More
Last year, I did a boat tour with three of my siblings. This year, I tried a solo excursion of the famous Japanese cherry trees in the DMV by bus. The tour picked me up near the Archives Metro rail station. At the time, the Navy band was playing marches, including some of my favorite Sousa pieces, as an opening for a program. The buses used weren’t accessibility friendly–in fact, another passenger fell and sustained some injuries climbing up the bus’ steps–so I immediately decided that I would rely on whatever picture taking I could do from my seat. Still, it was a beautiful Tuesday, April 1st, day, and the previous weather damage to the trees’ blossoms wasn’t bad enough to affect their appearance much. While there were signs of construction at the Tidal Basin, I got the impression that efforts had been made to minimize its impact on the…
Seein’ the DMV: Birthday Concertizing and Baseball–September 2024
Two Concerts As I debated the title for this blog post, I realized that this was the first time in a while that birthday concertizing did not mean I was the performer. I miss performing, but the time had come, as it does for all, sooner or later. Anyway, I originally had lots of activity planned for my birthday week. I wasn’t feeling well and so decided to reevaluate the plan. Some things I was able to reschedule without any difficulty. One–a lecture featuring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on her newly released book, Lovely One–was such a difficult ticket to get that I had no trouble finding someone to take it. That left two concerts. I’m also grateful that my sister, who was originally going to join me, got a signed copy of the justice’s book for me. The first concert was the National Symphony Orchestra Echoes…
Seein’ the DMV: African American Museum Redux 081324
So my “Seein’ the DMV” selection for August was a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, I’ve visited the museum twice previously in the eight years since it opened. The Metro subway system took me to within 4/10 of a mile of the museum, but that was a pretty long walk for me. Still, driving wasn’t really an option because finding parking was nearly impossible mid-day in that part of DC. Next time–and there needs to be a next time–I will see if there is a bus that would drop me off closer to the museum entrance. Anyway, I decided to go because their Afrofuturism exhibition was scheduled to close at the end of the week. As a fan of Star Trek–I’m debating whether to post a picture of my personal ST collection here, The Matrix, The…
Two Trips to the African American History Museum
I can’t believe that I chronicled neither my 2016 nor my 2019 visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)! ** Sigh ** Anyway, since I’m hoping to return to the museum during this month (August, 2024), I at least want to leave a blog post marking the earlier visits. December 26, 2016 I visited the NMAAHC for the first time just three months after it opened to the public in September 2016. (I have always been thankful that it opened before the change in presidential administrations because I believe that they would have done all they could to “kill it in the crib.” The wait list for tickets was months long, especially if a group wanted tickets. Still, the Joneses descended en masse to see our history gathered on one site at last. My nephew and godson volunteered to be my escort, which at that…
Seein’ the DMV: Memorials at Night–Black Lives Matter Plaza to MLK
During my first excursion Seein’ the DMV, I accidentally let my phone’s charge get so low, I couldn’t take any pictures of the evening tour sites we visited. It took me nearly two months, but I finally decided the time was right to address this by revisiting the memorials covered by the tour, plus an additional stop. I also wanted to test a new camera I had just purchased that I’m hoping to take with me to Hawaii later this year. By that point, I want to know it well enough to be able to take some decent photos on the cruise. This was a Saturday night, two weekends after July 4th. My luck with crowds was spotty at best sometimes, and this was the midst of DC’s busy season for tourists. I seem to have really lucked out this time, though. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic was mercifully lighter than…