My Beautiful Sisters and I

Top photograph taken by Davie T. at Union Station in Washington DC last month. Second photograph taken by Willory D. on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC last weekend.

The rest of the family will be up for a highly anticipated visits in just a couple weeks.

Yesterday’s Heroism

(Picture taken by Anjan Reijndeers on the Kenai Peninsuala

(dont worry mom…the pipe is not loaded but the shotgun is. There were bears and feisty mountain goats just half a K a behind us on the trail.)

I have just seen the film Prince Caspian which is a movie based upon the second book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.

Am I the only who wishes I could fight my daily battles with a ringing broadsword and garbed in leather and roughly woven wool and mail?

As it is I fight my battles with a laptop garbed in a starched collar and a silly multi colored noose. Even the fact that I carry a fountain pen, as a writer, is a subject of humor among my co-workers.

Operation Noble Eagle

This is a picture taken from the wide Potomac where I sail and instruct sailing on the weekends. It is located about one mile from my outpost in Alexandria, Virginia.

Last weekend I was drifting along the big river when this squadron of military helicopters buzzed over me, nearly trimming my sails, and giving me a haircut. (By the time I extracted my camera from its dry bag the choppers were far away from us but believe me, for a minute there they were cramping my style.)

Though I am unsure certain what they were doing so close to the river (I figured all of our helicopters were in Iraq fighting terrorists,) I now suspect they were collecting intelligence on me since I have yet to pay my taxes in for the year.

(Relax everyone. I got an extension. Uncle Sam will eventually get some sort of paltry sum from me)

This is no the first time this has happened either. Last summer I was sailing near the Kennedy Center when a Marine One Presidential chopper ducked so low to the river that my sunfish was spun ’round by the rotor wash. Isn’t that unconstitutional or something? How did G.W. know about those two summers I spent painting for the Sodemans when I didn’t pay a dime in taxes?

Conclusion: Apparently the dozens of military aircraft making our difficult lives more difficult and polluting the skies inside the beltway are due to the fact that we are proud owners of two of the nation’s ten no-fly-zones.

One encompasses the National Mall area which includes the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The other one is up the river near Georgetown over the U.S. Naval Observatory where Vice President of the United States lives and hunts quail and colleagues from time to time.

About a month ago the Capitol Press Corp was briskly ushered out of our various perches around the Capitol Building because a small Cessna had wandered out of the clouded corridor towards Reagan National airport(which is in the middle of the city) and into the forbidden airspace above the Capitol. Two F16 fighter jets roared after the wayward craft and forced her to the ground.

We were later informed that the media was the last group to be extracted from the Capitol (besides security). I am guessing that Congressmen and their staff went first, and then I suppose women and children, probably the maintenance, people and then finally the 4^th Estate.

Sen. John McCain(R-Ariz) the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, as snapped at Russel Park outside the United States Senate several weeks ago.

enchanted by the light

“When a great sight comes to sweep you down, fight it. It will take you, for sure, but keep your eyes open, and you can beat it, like molten steel into beams of light.

“I used to take long walks in the city, and when I was able to immerse myself in a cross-fire of beautiful images. I would ingnite just as you did. It has many names, and is one of the prime forces of history, and yet it keeps itself hidden

Nicolo Allessandro, Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

I snapped these, and other photos at the National Cathedral in Washington DC late last night -

”Swiss lighting artist Gerry Hofstetter brings his artistry to Washington National Cathedral for a spectacular exterior illumination of the south and west sides, in celebration of the Cathedral’s centennial. Numerous vivid images will be projected directly on the Cathedral sunset to midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, illustrating its mission of reconciliation, spotlighting its role as a spiritual beacon for the nation, and proclaiming hope for all humankind.

“He has illuminated famous landmarks such as Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid at Giza. Also among his extraordinary works are natural settings such as the Matterhorn in his native Switzerland, the White Cliffs of Dover along the English Channel, and gigantic icebergs in Antarctica.

“Hofstetter has lit some of the world’s most beautiful churches, including Mont St. Michel in France and San Marco in Venice—and soon America’s Gothic jewel, Washington National Cathedral. The images planned for the Cathedral illuminations will be high-impact and will illustrate the unity of humankind in the world and the universality of all people with God. To see a portfolio of Hofstetter’s most impressive work visit www.hofstetter-marketing.com.

commencement

To my Hillsdale College friends who graduate today, I wish you my congratulations.

It’s been exactly one year since this segment of my adventure began. From the President’s Office at Hillsdale with Papa Arnn to slaying halibut and salmon on the high seas in Alaska.  Now I am scraping out a living in shoe leather at the nation’s Capitol dome…. what a ride it’s been.

As a matter of reflection on the topic of commencement leave you with this piece of wisdom growled many by Gunnery Sergeant of United States Marine Corp during that summer of Officer Candidate School ‘06.

“Candidate Ryan! If I gave you a (expletive) box of tooth-picks you could build me a (expletive) rocket ship.

“But not one of you nasty candidates with your (expletive) college degrees can even make your own (expletive) beds.

“College education… $100,000. Common sense… priceless….

 

a Victory Lap

Folks. It appears we finally have our nominees. Luckily one of them is very photogenic. I snapped this picture at a rally at American University a couple of months ago.

As reported by the Washington Post this morning, Sen. Barack Obama(D-Ill.) may not have technically clinched the nomination but he is certainly acting like he did. 

Exhibit A, yesterday morning. His victory lap around the House Floor.

The house floor? But isn’t Obama a Senator?  Even Madame Speaker Pelosi told the Congressional Press Corp in a conference just minutes after Obama had made his egress from the floor (to a sea of screaming female pages) that she didn’t know who invited him. Is it against the rules?

Nothing seems to be against the rules for President Obama.

It so happens that ManySmallPeople was standing in formation with a gaggle of loitering reporters in the Speaker’s lobby which is a long plush hallway adjacent to chamber of the house of representatives. I was waiting for the Majority Leader Rep Steny Hoyer to exit so I could pepper him with questions about the war when I glanced into the chamber and saw a familar face.

Is that Barack Obama? I asked the groggy, mostly hung-over reporters drooping like dried out plants around me. He does show up in these parts from time to time you know. “No” one of the suits growled back(I am generally the youngest kid around so they use animal sounds when they talk to me) ”Obama is on the trail in West Virginia.”

Everyone returned to their gossip but I kept watching… the Junior Senator from Ill. finally turned his pretty face towards the window long enough for me to make a declaration of fact rather than a query. It was the man himself, the (soon to be) crown prince of the Democratic Party and champion of both the common man and elitist… but really I only saw a flash go by… Obama was too busy with his victory lap round’ the cavernous chamber and too busy thrilling pubescant teenss 

Begin Again But Fierce….

I am firing up the blog again simply because I want to share my life with friends and family not with me in my Washington DC exile. If you already familiar with this blog the genre is changing.

In addition to family and friends I think many people will find vignettes of life in the Senate Press Gallery in the United States Capitol to be entertaining and informative.

So In the second birth of this blog you can expect the following:

Links to my stories and maybe a quick summary on why it matters to you. 

My Photography

Dispatches from the U.S. Capitol - this will only interest you if you are a hardcore politico and imagine these posts may attract the most outsiders.

Gritty Details of my life outside of the beltway- this one is for family and friends.

Thoughts on Literature, Poetry, Sailing, Mountaineering, Rowing, Photography, Journalism, Rugby, my insights into whatever I am thinking about. 

Expect typos, spelling mistakes. This is formal and among friends. If you dont like it dont read it.