Posts in: dmv

You can recognize avarice in any community, and the carps at the US National Arboretum are no different. It is no accident that the one fish with its mouth wide open and ready to eat is also the largest one in the pond.

Close-up photo of a koi pond with numerous carps of all sizes looking up. The largest fish has its mouth open and sticking out of the water.

I don’t often leave online reviews and when I do it’s usually to commend. Not this time.

I might have cooled off by the time I got back home, but then I noticed that the worst auto repair shop in DC has left me a surprise.

Close-up of a driver's side car carpet with two large dirty footprints.

The same pond as yesterday, with more light but alas without the heron.

A still pond mirrors an early fall landscape under a clear blue sky.

Zoom in to the center of this dreamy Brookside Gardens landscape and you will see… another blue heron, holding on to an indecently large goldfish.

A rippled pond mirrors a fall landscape on a gloomy, overcast day. A hunched figure at the center holds something bright orange in its beak.

Behold, the Maryland state flag — one of the best in the Union — and state flower on top of the Maryland state desert, the Smith Island (birthday) cake. Best of all, this was a birthday we celebrated while on Smith Island.

A birthday cake with chocolate glazing, two (plastic) black-eyed Susans and a (paper) Maryland state flag placed on top.

A small drop on a large leaf, as seen at the family favorite, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens.

Macro photo of a small drop of clear water in the center of a dimpled green lotus leaf.

What war on Christmas? The magic was alive and well in DC last year.

Children looking through a shopping window at a holiday display featuring an old toy TV set with a decorated Christmas tree inside.

Our first time at a Michelin star restaurant was in Tail-Up Goat a few blocks down from our first DC apartment in Adams Morgan. It was one of those places where you needed a flashlight to see your food, and the crispy salt cod was more salt than crispy. We have avoided Michelin stars ever since.

Close-up photo of a restaurant menu. The first item is crispy salted cod.

The previously mentioned Axios Local newsletters continues to be a delight to read every morning. To take a quote from today’s edition, discussing the absolute horror of someone cheating at bar trivia:

In a town filled with people trying to relive their Model UN glory days, trivia isn’t just some silly bar game — it’s the D.C. equivalent of flexing shirtless on Muscle Beach.

While this isn’t what most of DC is actually like, there are many people living here who would like it to be this way and that also tells you something.

We finally got tho see The Great Zucchini of The Peekaboo Paradox fame (first mentioned here) in action. He was indeed as marvelous as they say. If toddlers were automatons he’d be the Master Engineer, knowing exactly what button to push to get the desired reaction — be it wonder, awe or delight.