Beautiful Knitting

My gorgeous booga bag! I knitted this with yarn Curtis gave me for Christmas. I love Noro!!!!!! I will post pics of the mittens when they are completely finished. Projects on deck: Scarf for Dan, Scarf for Curtis, Aran sweater for me.

Fun in the Capital City!

Jefferson Memorial from the Tidal Basin




















D.C. Paddleboaters!















How funny is this? (note the boat name - Unsinkable II)


Jeremy came to visit me this weekend and we decided to drive to Washington D.C. on Sunday in hopes of seeing some Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom (no such luck- cold weather = later blooming).

It was a lovely day, nonetheless. We ate lunch at the D.C. marina (which I never realized existed before). It's south of the tidal basin monuments (Jefferson and FDR memorials) right after you cross under the Amtrak line. There was something so real about this place between the smells and the grit and the people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. This market was unusual in that it was level with the ground - basically, there were all these floating barges that had pulled up to the docks and had permanently moored themselves there. The seafood was displayed at ground level, with the workers actually working a level below. Most of the barges sold fresh fish, crabs, lobster, etc., but a few actually prepared food for a tasty fresh lunch. We each ordered crabcakes.

After lunch, we walked back to the Tidal Basin and rented a paddleboat. We spent an hour paddling around and checking out the monuments from the water. It struck me as oddly ironic - there we were amidst stoic monuments in the center of one of the most beautiful, historic, and powerful cities in the world, and we were piloting a robin's-egg blue plastic paddleboat. Maybe that's why I love D.C. - all the little things that make it feel more like a town than a big city.

We walked around a bit longer, ate some dinner, and headed home. Didn't get to see Paul this trip, but planning to visit again in the near future.

Harrisburg is Bizarre, Too

Two weeks ago, I wrote about seeing the dead chickens when I was on the highway... well, let's add another weird thing to the "weird driving sights" list.

Driving through Harrisburg on my way to work on Friday, I saw a car along the side of the road that had apparently run out of gas. Conveniently, there is a gas station about 1,000 feet away from it. I saw the old man who owns the car trying to fill the gas tank with fluid from a plastic 16 oz. Coca-Cola bottle.

Not kidding. I can see it now.... Old man walks into a convenience store and buys a Coke. He then chugs the Coke and walks out to the gas pump. He then pays at the pump and buys .14 cents of gas to put in his bottle. He walks down the road, and then tries to not spill his .14 cents of gas when filling the gas tank (is this even possible?)

The sick thing is that there is a good chance that 16 oz. of gas is not enough to even get the car back to the gas station because of the one-way setup of the road he was on...

Bizarre.

I need to get out of Pennsylvania.

York, PA is the Twilight Zone

I drive a lot with my job, so I tend to witness some very odd things on the road.

In the past year, I have indeed seen some weird things. Last spring, I went to pass a little Geo Metro on the highway and looked over and saw a clown. Yes, a clown. He was driving and in full make-up and clothing. Odd.

Then, this past month I've seen TWO different people puking out their car windows (mid-day) while sitting in standing traffic (unrelated incidents).

But the strangest thing I've ever seen was something I saw this morning on my drive in to work...

There was this really old guy with white hair driving a beat up gray Ford Ranger pickup truck with a wide blue stripe. The truck looked to be about 20 years old and reminded me of the truck my dad used to own. The man was pretty beat up himself. He looked like a farmer - work jeans, striped shirt, and a floppy brown Ernest Hemmingway "dust bowl" type of hat.

Then I noticed what he was transporting in the bed of his truck.... a gigantic pile of dead chickens. I kid you not. The entire truck bed was filled with them. All I could make out was white feathers and feet.

And no, I didn't notice if the chickens had large talons.