:::Miracle:::

It snowed here on Christmas Day, and yeah, it was the best thing ever.

It's been in the 30s all week, which is also fantastic considering that we were still having 80 degree days at the beginning of the month.

Hallelujah, amen!

:::Springtime?:::

Apparently there hasn't been much of a winter here this year. Seems to be that way in many places.

It's been unseasonably warm lately, which has, in turn, thrown nature out of whack. It's the end of February, and the flowering trees are already blooming!

I took those photos yesterday morning. Today the tree looks like this --

I was going to do a balcony garden again this year, but with this sudden onset of Spring, I'm afraid I might have missed my window of opportunity! Ha, ha.

I wonder how the trees on the Tidal Basin are doing?

:::Lightning Storm:::

Tonight we enjoyed a severe thunderstorm that brought torrential rain, and then this lovely lightning storm. I've never seen anything like it before. No rain, no thunder, just lightning. Beautiful.

:::Let it be known...:::

That it is 10:12 pm and the temperature is...88 degrees. Humidity at 61%.

My zucchini seems to like it.

It has doubled in size since yesterday.

Thank Goodness For Spring

I hope we get to enjoy an actual Spring season this year. Summer usually pushes its way in and ruins the fun way too early.

:::Icy Conditions:::

We had a bit of freezing rain last night. When the sun came up this morning I saw that the twinkle lights on my balcony had been delicately encased in ice.

The vacant lot that I walk across in the morning was completely iced over.

It was pretty cool. I don't know why I like harsh winter weather, but I do. Under the surface of the semi-translucent ice, rocks, sticks, and hay were still visible. I half expected to see some dead faces down there as well.

Going contrary to anything that has ever happened before in the history of our office, the powers that be decided that we wouldn't open until 11 am today due to the poor road conditions the ice storm caused. They sent out an alert to everyone's voicemail, but we never open late so most people didn't even think to call and check their messages. I arrived close to my normal time but chose to do a crossword puzzle and eat a Cadbury bar until starting time.

The Express is a Washington Post commuter paper. Their puzzle is always easy, so it's fun to do. The candy bar was from my boss's daughter who just came back from some kind of study abroad in London. She said her daughter was so happy to be home because, 'It's so boring over there and there's nothing to do.' I'll give you a minute to process that one.

Have you heard of this book? Probably, I'm slow on the uptake sometimes.

It's fun. The book is made up of short, conversational book recommendations based on different themes such as Bicycling, Les Crimes Noir (that's French for The Crimes Noir), First Lines to Remember, Italian American Writers, Mothers and Sons, World War I Fiction, etc. She gives a few authors their own entries, such as the wonderful and delightful Barbara Pym.

Anyhow, check it out. There's a second edition as well that is probably waiting for me on the hold shelf across the street at my local branch. I have a serious 'holds' habit.


Ha! I just remembered this quote --

"Sir, When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Seriously.

:::Weekly Goals -- It's Always Dusty:::

This week my goals are to:

1. Sort out my entryway
2. Felt a birthday present for a coworker
3. Dust
4. Clear off my dining room table
5. Finish my book

I'm rolling with these goals, not beating myself up if I don't knock all of the items off my list. As you can see, these aren't essentials, so no harm, no foul.


In other news, we're supposed to have a big storm tonight, which means it's not going to snow at all. Who would have thought that the South would get more snow than we would? I don't understand how these storms hit the South, skip us, then swing up the coast. Oh well. Fingers crossed!

:::I Live On the Hell Mouth:::

Today is the 28th of October, 2010.

We are 36 days into Fall.

There are 28 days until Thanksgiving, two months until Christmas. 

 

It is 80 degrees outside.

The humidity was in the 90s this week.

It's been like this for most of the month.

And drum roll please...

They turned off the air conditioning three weeks ago. 

Awesome.

I don't believe in cold anymore. I don't believe that it was ever cold here, or that it will ever be cold again.

:::Glorious Gloriness:::

High: 81 degrees
Humidity: 49%

I stood on my balcony in the morning.

I stood on my balcony in the afternoon.

I stood on my balcony in the evening and the night.

Glory, glory hallelujah.



This has been the worst summer ever in DC. We would shatter heat records one week, then shatter them again the next. We've had days of 100 degree weather with humidity in the very high 90s. During one of our worst weeks in July the overnight low was 85 degrees. The low. With temperatures that bad and all the cement to hold the heat in, things just got hotter and hotter as the days went by.

To add insult to injury, I'm constantly sweating. I wipe my face, but then more sweat comes. HELP ME!!!! I hate it-hate it. So much sweat. It's like when you're staying at someone's house and you get out the shower and have to get dressed in the bathroom but it's all steamy and you keep sweating but you have to put your clothes on and then you start feeling claustrophobic...Oh, please let this end!

I miss the dry heat of desserts where the blazing hot temperature magically drops down into pleasant chilliness of night. A few night I slept with my window open hoping to catch an early morning chill, but, again, 85 degree lows. I would be woken up not by a cool breeze, but by stifling heat.

There were days where I came home and cried as I frantically stripped and went to sit on the air conditioning vent. People have really struggled through this summer and no one is sad to see this one end. Good riddance.

It has been just awful, and I want to say to every man, woman, and child who previously walked an un-air-conditioned earth in suits and petticoats and wool undergarments -- may you find a place amongst the highest of the heavenly host. Amen.



And because you made it all the way through this complaining post about the weather, here are two pictures of my bare-bones apartment.

{The head of my bed is now against the air conditioning unit. I can't believe what a difference this has made to my sanity!)

And something else I love.


I can see the National's Stadium from my balcony, which means that after every Friday night home game, I have one of the best seats possible for the fireworks show.

Ooh, la-la!

:::New Year's PSA, The Partners Smile On Us:::

If you're like me, you get a little annoyed about the puffed up nature of New Year's Eve. Don't feel like waxing poetic about auld lang syne? Neither do I. I've had many a depressing New Year's because I felt like I was the only one who's life hadn't come together within the neat confines of the past 12 months. Let me tell you something -- The Lord cares not a hoot about the Gregorian calendar.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in resolutions and celebrating life, it's just the New Year's overkill that needles me. You don't have to have any startling revelations about life tonight. You don't have to be a new person tomorrow. It's okay. It's o-bee-kay-bee.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

This morning we woke up to the after effects of some freezing rain. When I was little we sang this song at school about Jack Frost skating all over the world and leaving tracks of ice behind him. Judging by the haphazard frosting of ice everywhere, it really did look like Jack Frost had been skating around the Hill last night.





There is a line of topiary bushes in raised planters outside of the Thurgood Marshall building on the way to Union Station. Every time I pass them I stick out my hand and brush the leaves as I pass by. Today the leaves were thick with ice, and as I brushed them they knocked together like heavy crystals on a chandelier.


So, there is absolutely no one in town the week after Christmas. No one. It's like a Washington tradition. Today there were only seven attorneys in the office and 14 staff members. Usually on the eve of a holiday they let us go at 2 pm, but since there was no one in the office, the gods (i.e., the partners) let us go at noon! Hot damn!


I was out. of. there. before the bells tolled 12. You have to escape before they change their minds, or before someone snags you for some last minute help. Yes, yes, I'm flying up the career ladder.

So, I had to buy some envelopes from the post office in Union Station, so I stopped by Johnny Rockets for lunch. Ha! Hello, early 90's! There was a stretch of time in my youth when Johnny Rockets was the coo-el place to go. The food isn't awesome, but I was in the mood for some nostalgia. I remember being obsessed with these tabletop jukeboxes when I was little.


Would you believe that there are at least 3 Johnny Rockets in the DC metro area? I don't understand the fascination. Truth be told, I do stop by once in a blue moon for a chocolate malt shake. Holla!


I'm off to sit under a bhodi tree to reach enlightement before midnight. Om...

:::Global Colding:::

Last week I...

• Turned off my air conditioning
• Wore socks to bed (I never wear socks to bed)
• Wore long sleeves to work everyday
• Wore a sweater and a scarf to work one day
• Slept with my comforter pulled over my head
• Nearly froze to death in my room

How cold was it? 75 degrees, which isn't cold at all.

:::It's a Jungle Out There:::

This is why I don't leave my house during the summer. Do you see that?!! 78.4 degrees.

'But, that's nice and cool, Rebekah.'

Yeah?

87% humidity!!! What the heck, people!

Some of the downstairs windows are fogged up, not because it's nice and chilly and refreshing outside, but because it's like a steamy, hot, wet blanket out there.

And it's only 11:14 am!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that those blasted bugs are out! They hang out in the trees and make this rolling, vibrating, buzzing sound.

It really is a jungle out here.

:::Hurricane Bill:::

We are in the beginning of hurricane season here in the Atlantic Basin, and I'm as excited as ever. I love all types of severe weather that aren't related to heat or humidity. Give me your blizzards, your hailstorms, your downpours, your raging winds any day. I love watching the earth and the atmosphere step up and show off its power. Of course, I realize that weather can cause severe damage and deaths. I never wish for that. I just love the proportions -- the sublime nature -- of a good show.

This weekend Mr. Bill is making his way up the seaboard, currently about 600 miles off the coast of North Carolina. The great thing about living in DC is that we rarely get the full brunt of any of these big storms, just the fun side effects like ear splitting thunder and blinding white lightening that flashes in rapid pulses across the sky. I love to count how many miles away the storm is between thunder crashes and lightening bolts...one, one-thousand, two, one-thousand, three, one-thousand...it actually works, it really does. The rain never comes until these sky theatrics are over, that is something I've learned over time. You still have time to run for cover while the sky is rocking and rolling. But after that, the faucet is turned on full blast and streets flood within seconds.

I remember my first summer here I was waiting on a street a few blocks away from here to pick up a Zipcar. A storm fell on the city, and the thunder was so painfully sharp and deep and LOUD that I had to plug my ears. There is so much concrete and brick and stone here that the sounds are amplified a million times over. This thunder is BIG. You can't be heard over it. It literally resonates in your rib cage.

After a few minutes of thunder and lightening and hovering under a pine tree for meager shelter, the rain came tumbling down. I watched the street completely flood within 3 minutes. It was one of the most amazing phenomenons I've ever witnessed. Needless to say that I was completely soaked through and through, and when I finally got into the car I could hardly drive because the windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the downpour.

And then, as quickly as it began, it was over. The water washed away and the storm clouds moved on. Within a half and hour the sky was blue and clear. Sciz-o, for certain, but I love it.


During the summer I sleep with my window open at night to let the cool air in. Early this morning at 4:20 am I was jarred out of my sleep by the sounds of warfare in the sky. I laid (lay?) there in complete awe until I had to shut the window because my ears started to ache. Just imagine having both ears pressed up against shooting rifles. It's so cool to hear nature make sounds that big and broad.

When the lightening came, I finally got out of bed and grabbed my camera. My window was shut by this point, and the best of the thunder had passed, though you can still hear some rumblings over the sound of my fan. You have to see this lightening though. When it's really going good it's like someone is holding a strobe light outside of your window.

This time the rain that followed was very tame and, par for the course, lasted only for a few minutes.

I think it's funny how easy this post was for me to write, when usually I really struggle to put something together and give words to my thoughts. I just really like weather. Growing up in Southern California I was always so annoyed by our tame weather. One of my favorite memories happened when El Nino passed through and we all thought we were going to die. I was sick during the worst week of it, and I remember laying on the couch near the tv and watching nothing but weather reports all day long. By the time I went back to school I was a weather guru. During PE my friends kept coming up to me and asking me questions about the storm and I would tell them all about storm cells and pressure zones. Seriously, I have two good memories from high school, and that is one of them.

Continuous coverage here and here. It looks like Bill is going to stay out to sea and cause most of his problems further north and into Halifax and Nova Scotia, but you never know. Landfall! Landfall! Landfall! Cross your fingers.

:::a storm a comin':::

last night i made a quick jaunt to eastern market to pick up my calling cards at kinkos. i saw this:


them clouds are green, sister.

since i'm down with frontier life, i knew...


it was time to seek shelter....

but because i'm a documentation loving blogger, i was torn between a primal urge to save my life, and a blogger's need stop and take photos...


when the thunder started rolling, life won out.


yet, ever seeking solutions, i decided to take videos instead. i present them to you below.



the heavens opened shortly thereafter. the only protection i had was my other recent purchase -- annette's mother's day gift.

sorry moms.

:::cherry blossoms, 2009:::

{this is an extremely picture-heavy post}

on monday i woke up early to go to the tidal basin and see the cherry blossoms. better late than never.


things are so quiet in the early morning. i think it's my favorite time of day. there were plenty of commuters on buses and on the train, but that overwhelming rushed feeling wasn't in the air yet.

not much narrating to do. if you want to see about a million more of the pictures i took, go here.

{this is one of my favorite shots because you can see tj between the columns of the monument.}

it was nice to see some of my favorite trees from last year. i love it when the branches arch over the pathway and dip into the water.


i thought i wouldn't have much time there, but i was able to spend at least an hour looking at the blossoms and walking around the basin. i was only sad that the sun was hiding and only peeked out from behind the gray clouds here and there. regardless of what people say, taking photos in overcast skies is not my preference.

my original departure plan was to catch a cab, but i still had plenty of time on my hands and i no longer have the desire to get to work extra early. forgoing that idea, i decided to walk up to the washington monument, then up 15th near the white house and over to my office.

as i was leaving the area surrounding the tidal basin, i saw a planting of tulips and went over to investigate.


i have to say that i had no idea that there was a tulip library here. it's small, but it seemed to me that each major variety of tulips was represented. since i still had time to spare, i stopped to take some photos.





after i left and was nearing the monument, i had to photograph this tree since it looks very much like the whomping willow from harry potter.



i also got to see the lincoln and the world war II memorials from a distance. i thought it was funny that i had only set out to see the cherry blossom, but ended up seeing the jefferson memorial (that's a given at the tidal basin), the washington monument, the lincoln memorial, the world war II memorial, the elipse, and the white house. sometimes i realize that i actually do live here, and on a regular basis i see big things that matter to the nation.

as i was walking across the large open field behind the washington monument, i noticed that the sky wasn't just overcast, it was gradually getting darker and darker as storm clouds came in from the west.

when my sister called and told me she had just seen lightening near the temple, i thought i'd better get out of the open and become more serious about heading to work. my leisurely field trip turned into a lightening-strike-aversion plan rather quickly. of course, i didn't have my umbrella with me, or an overcoat.

here's something funny. because i left so early i didn't have time to eat breakfast, so i was planning on going to the mcdonald's near my office when i was done. when i realized that it was going to start raining very shortly, i said a prayer and asked that it would stay dry and lightening free until i got to work. almost immediately, i got an impression that the weather would hold for a short time longer, but not long enough for me to stop at mcdonald's and eat. after quickly weighing my options, i responded to the prompting with, 'i can live with that,' and decided to get my fattening breakfast anyhow. ha! priorities. let it be know that when i left mcdonald's, it had just started sprinkling.

so, that was all that happened to me before 9:30 a.m. that day. it was such a nice morning, not only because i got to see the blossoms, but because i was able to spend so much time outside just wandering around. maybe i should do more things outside. alas, pretty soon all the blossoms will blow off the trees, spring will pass, and then we'll be in it -- the hot, muggy days of summer. we'll see how i fare this year. anyone care to make a wager?

:::hallelujah!:::