Hallelujah~the humidity is gone

So, of course, that meant slipping on some walking shoes and heading out for adventures. 

I went to the Yoko Ono Wish Tree~installed in 2007 and 'open' every summer. You tie your wish on it and at the end of the summer (or before the next massive t-storm), the museum elves take them down and ship them off to the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik. 

We'll see how long it takes for my wish to come true. And no, I am not telling~that's not how wishes work. 

A few red/white/blue twinkle lights still up around the Castle. 

The bees were in love with the echniachea. 

Just a gorgeous day for walking.

So, I kept going to the Botanic Gardens. 

I don't know what these blooming reeds were, but they smelled delicious. 

 

Purdy purple thistles.

Surprisingly, the Orchid Room had only a couple of species blooming~I thought these were plants that flourished in vile humidity? 

This Lady Slipper looks alarmed. 

Now that's a hibiscus!

I cruised through bits of the Catalonia themed Folklife Festival. Am bummed that I wasn't close enough to get a shot of this human tower! They were level with the treetops when the smallest person scampered to the top.

Intriguing questions.

Part of the mosaic with this year's theme. Another interesting ramble.

whew

Today is one of four National Chocolate Days. 

I RAN OUT OF BOOKS on Thursday and didn't notice until after the library was closed. V. careless of me, I know. But I am now stocked for the weekend. 

And what a delightful thing to step outside and for once not feel like one is being smothered and wading through stew. 

embracing Hope

Beauty in the cracks.

Today I discovered that a thunderstorm and rain does not break the humidity~so let's move right on to what I am grateful for at present. 

It's my first day in two weeks with no scheduled appointments, so I walked to Penzey's to get a housewarming gift. And?! Once again, received a gift~this time,with a beautiful essay card inside.

Perfect timing as we're making corn tortillas, fresh salsa, and guacamole for next week's elective. Happy Friday all y'all!

So much wrongness in having a holiday mid-week

A verrrrrry warm 4th of July firework viewing. Our group opted to stay on this side of the Potomac to avoid the massive crowds. Yes, we had crowds at Arlington, but not quite as much. The downside was we didn't get to hear the music. 

We sat on the hill below the Iwo Jima monument.

There were cicadas, fireflies, and one SUPER excited toddler behind us. I thought he was going to faint with joy by the time the actual fireshow started. 

Lying very stil under smoldering July skies.

may your day be filled with sparklers and watermelon

An amusing meme that's floating around.

Exactly. 

Started the day with a miniature cherry pie. 

You can almost see the humidity today. ICK. 

But! I'm very proud that I tackled the bus system today~there is no close Metro stop to the National Cathedral and I wasn't inclined to hike in this heat. So, busses it was. Very impressed~they were clean, had high a/c, and were running on time. 

Sat under my favorite window~it's planets or moons or large things floating in the skies. 

A gorgeous concert and a lovely respite in remembering the beautiful bits of this country. Now for a nap in front of fans prior to dinner and FIREWORKS on The Mall!!!!

who knew potatoes could be so exciting?

My handout for next week's class.

Our office manager is getting married this weekend, so we surprised her with flowers and a gift card. 

This was a hilarious moment in class, because Talal and I have a long-running joke that I'll get him to love books as much as he loves video games. I had NO idea this was in today's writing exercise.

My elective kicked off today with making French fries~as we don't really have a kitchen, I am being creative with what we can cook. Borrowed an airfryer from my bro-in-law. 

Giovanna from Spain discovering that our knives are extremely dull. 

Bazaar was a whiz at peeling potatoes~with another dull knife. Mohammad met a peeler for the first time in his life. And bless his heart~they told him to rinse the potatoes after peeling and I came in to find him washing them with SOAP. Yes, the raw peeled potatoes. Guess he took my lecture on kitchen sanitation to heart. Oy. 

Nergui also trying the knife.

While they were waiting, they started teaching various alphabets~we saw Arabic, Russian, Mongolian, and Portuguese.  

Delicious (CLEAN) final product. 

My name in Arabic. 

My name in Mongolian. 

I had to prod them to leave~next time I will channel my inner Bob Tan to get guests to exit.

And??? Best of all? The a/c was working once again in my classroom~that's why there was no blog entry yesterday. Heat index of 108 and zero a/c all day.

summer delights

Nessie has been found~she's in Virginia, if you're curious! Despite the brutal heat index, July had a good start. Cardamom gelato (too hot to take a pic prior to melting), wandering a park, and rambling conversation.