Washington D.C.

A work trip for Steve took us toWashington D.C. this past week. Due to my newly-switched employment status (employed to self-employed) allowed me to tag along and enjoy the sights of our capitol. We enjoyed a few sites together before Steve attended his work retreat. Our Ohio winter-weary souls sought out some warmth and growing plants at the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory where we enjoyed the humidity of the tropics and the smells of the U.S. deserts.

Since we finally left the dumb phone world, we made use of our sassy smart phones to document each other in-situ. Do I sound like NPR?!;-)

 

Seriously though, note the National Museum of the American Indian behind me. We visited this museum for its fabulous Native foods cafe and huge collection of all things American Indian. It's an equally inspiring and heart-wrenching piece of history and present.

The White House is getting a makeover, but it's still always a cool place to see.

Steve spent two solid days here with some other inspiring, driven, conservation-minded individuals.

While he worked hard, I visited more museums including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Gallery of Art. Though I wasn't allowed to take any photos of the Monets, Van Goghs, Gauguins, Renoirs, etc. they were fabulous to see and to stand with my nose almost touching those famous pieces of art.  I did take a photo of this interesting formation in the Gems and Geology section of the Smithsonian.

Check out where it was collected and what it is! Cool!

This collection wowed me. We always talk of traveling to Bisbee, AZ and this entire section on Bisbee mining reminded us it's a great place to go in winter! 60s-70s and sun sounds pretty fabulous to us right now.

While walking through the Smithsonian gardens, I noticed this fantastic gate made out of natural materials, which very much seems like something we need to make!

The city wildlife made us laugh with their posturing and....

begging! While I enjoyed my lunch outside the Museum of Natural History in the brilliant sunshine, the local house sparrows and starlings found me and my sandwich quite intriguing. At one point I had at least 40-50 birds around me begging for food. Two starlings tried to snatch the sandwich out of my hands! Bold birds. The scene cracked me up and obviously others as I was approached twice to see if I would mind having my photograph taken.

The week rounded out with an incredible visit with an old friend of mine from college. (14 years went by before our most recent visit!) What a gift of time this next adventure Steve and I are embracing is offering us! We are on this path of time creation and will highlight our progress as we go.