His Friends

Student Play

Magnificent!

Barbara and I went to the National Arboretum in NE Washington. What a glorious experience!

 In the parking lot we met a very friendly and helpful Arboretum fan. Here is Barbara with our new friend Cassandra. We spent most of our time in the Japanese and North American Bonsai Pavilions. 

This Japanese White Pine came from Hiroshima and has been "in training" since 1625. It is, therefore, the oldest Bonsai in the Arboretum (and perhaps in the country?).

                 This is a Scots Pine.

Dancing and Ballet

Celebrating Marie

Barbara and I celebrated Marie's birthday today. We began by taking a most interesting tour of Tudor Place.[More details later]








We strolled the streets of Georgetown and enjoyed the many elaborate Halloween decorations.


         Very fashionable skeletons



                    "The Witch is In"

                                         Chris   Black Cat  Witch in a Barrel   Barbara

We then walked down to M Street where we found a Vietnamese restaurant. Barbara and Marie enjoyed their Bento lunches very much. I was quite unenthusiastic but enjoyed the company and the atmosphere.





[More later]

Author Talks

Every fall George Mason University sponsors "Fall for the Book." [more later]

Nancy drove to my house and then I drove us to GMU. Here is Nancy in her adorable Topolino.

We met Gertraud in the Food Court and had lunch before we went to hear Susan Bordo talk about her book, "The Destruction of Hillary Clinton." She was superb. She talked about the raw deal that Hillary Clinton  received during and after the campaign. She analyzed the animosity toward this bright, accomplished woman who would have made an excellent president.

Lecture

I attended a program at the Smithsonian: Bob Woodward interviewing Sally Quinn, wife of Ben Bradlee. [more later]

We weren't allowed to take photos when the presenters arrived.

Artists in Wartime

George highly recommended this exhibit at the Air and Space Museum, "Artist Soldiers: Artistic Expression in the First World World," to John and me.  So today we met him there and found the exhibit very interesting.

Entrance to the exhibit 

Shifting country borders 

It was very interesting to contrast Europe in 1914 and 1923.

 The U.S. government commissioned eight artists to paint scenes of WW I. Here are a few of the works of art:

  

Helping an ally 

 

As the introduction to the exhibit stated, photographs show the more shocking effects of war while paintings bring out the immediacy of war. 

These paintings definitely brought out the more personal nature of the conflict.

I think a war has more meaning when one knows someone who fought in the war. My father's three Norwegian uncles fought in WW I - Henry, Sever, and Oscar.

I remember hearing a lot about Uncle Henry, who returned from the war "shell-shocked" or with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as we would say today.

A Beautiful Must-See in the County

My friend Janet introduced me to a marvelous place today. After having lived in the wonderful county of Fairfax since 1977, I was finally made aware of a veritable treasure here.

Green Spring Gardens - There is too much to say about this magical place so I will direct you to its website for a wealth of information about it.

Go to https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring/ for complete information.

I will share some of my photos with you now.

I wish I had known about these gardens when my grandchildren were younger. Here is the Children's Garden.

Janet at the entrance to the Children's Garden 

The cards behind the caterpillar mound tell the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar." 

A Little Free Library - Take a book, Leave a book  

Do you see the two dogs? 

Boy filling up a watering can at the Rain Barrel 

A pleasant place for little folks to sit 

Happily-decorated bird houses

After leaving the Children's Garden, we found other places of interest.

 A Monarch Butterfly Way Station

 These plants are not native to Virginia or to the U.S. They perhaps come from Europe or Asia.

The shed with colorful birdhouses in the Vegetable Garden 

There is a Monarch butterfly somewhere in this photo. Can you find it? (I can't!)

Another inviting spot for little folks

What looks like a blue window frame is actually a swing for children.

(In the background on the left, you will catch a glimpse of the native plants of Virginia for sale.)

After roaming around outside in the gardens and inside in the Gift Shop for over an hour, we went to the Swiss Bakery for lunch. We both had Gruyere cheese sandwiches (see below).

Since we were in a bakery, we had to have a sweet dessert. The choice: the Bird's Nest. (See below)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Janet, for introducing me to this oasis of tranquillity and beauty.