ResQgeek

We were given tickets to see ICE! Featuring "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Gaylord National Resort, at National Harbor, MD. After juggling our schedules to free up some time, we headed across the river Friday afternoon to visit the exhibit. I understand that there are long lines on the weekends, but when we arrived, around 4pm, there was no line. It still took us a while to get to the ice exhibit, though, because we had to enjoy the exhibit of Dr. Seuss's art that decorated the waiting area where the crowds queue when it is busy. There was a wonderful collection of original artwork from his books, as well as early work from his advertising career and his personal paintings. All of it was characteristically Seussian, and it was fun to look at. When we finally reached the ice display, we put on the blue parkas they handed out (the display is maintained at 9°F (-13C)!) and stepped into the freezer. They used something like 2 million pounds of ice to build the display, much of it colored in Dr. Seuss primary colors. The displays tell the whole story of the Grinch, from his mountain top lair, to Whoville, with the Grinch stealing all the Christmas "stuff" and ending with the Christmas feast after the Grinch's conversion. It was all really well done and the carving was incredibly detailed.

On Saturday afternoon, my daughter performed in her fall piano recital (video available at youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aojQZj0nbF4). She played Faber's "Tempest", which sounded a bit like a George Winston piece to me. It is one of the more difficult pieces she's performed yet, and while she did miss a note in the middle, she still did really well. I enjoy going to the recitals and seeing how the various students improve each time. The most advanced students are becoming truly impressive pianists!

Yesterday, friends of ours invited us to attend a community spaghetti dinner and Christmas Carol sing-along hosted by their church. There was an overwhelming amount of food, and the crowds were almost too big for the available space. After dinner, we all settled into the church to sing. People could request songs, lighting candles to dedicate in memory or honor of loved ones. The songs were a mix of religious and secular holiday music (with a couple of Hanukkah songs mixed in...one dedicated to the memory of the victims of the holocaust). It was both fun and moving, especially when someone dedicated "Frosty the Snowman" to the memory of our daughter.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I managed to get our outside Christmas decorations up (better late than never, eh?). Now I just have to put up the tree and figure out what presents to buy for everyone...

Yesterday was my older daughter's school class trip to Medieval Times in Maryland. I was lucky enough to have been chosen to be one of the chaperones. I've been intrigued by the jousting themed dinner theater for quite a while, but hadn't yet had an opportunity to visit. It was fun, though the show was a bit more campy than I expected. On the other hand, the food was better than I would have thought. Our waiter joked with the kids as he served us, "Here's your baby dragon leg (tastes exactly like chicken!)". The kids all had fun cheering for their favorite knights and booing the evil knight. Not a bad way to spend a day with the kids.

The afternoon ended with a surprisingly strong thunderstorm that arrived just as I was cooking dinner. I happened to look out the window to see that a large limb had fallen off a tree across the street, damaging a neighbor's fence and blocking half the street. The neighbors were clearly trying to figure out how to move it so it wasn't a traffic hazard, so I went out to the shed and got my chain saw. It only took about five minutes to trim the limb back to that it was out of the road, but I was thoroughly drenched. The entire time I was out there, lightning kept flashing all around us, and I was a bit nervous that we'd get struck, so I didn't finish cutting up rest of the limb. I'll have to go back over this afternoon and finish cutting the limb up into pieces small enough to move, so they can clear up the rest of the mess.

After what has been an unseasonably warm start to the winter, we finally got our first snowfall of the season yesterday. Predictably, the roads were a mess, partly because people simply don't seem able to drive in half an inch of snow and partly because the road crews were deployed too thinly and too late to properly treat the roads. I went to the office in the early afternoon to try and get a head start on my work for the week, and when I headed home, the roads were snow/slush covered. This presented no great difficulty for me and I made my way home without any complications. Well, almost no complications. When I got to my street, I found the hill up to my house blocked with several cars that were unable to negotiate the grade, including one large SUV that had slid all the way into the three foot deep ditch along edge of the pavement. So, I went around the block and reached our driveway from the other side.

Over the next hour or so, we were treated to quite an entertaining show on the street in front of our house. Someone called 911 for the truck in the ditch, which brought an engine, medic unit and police cruiser to the neighborhood, to the delight of our daughters. No one was hurt, and I don't think the SUV was even damaged, but it definitely was going to need a tow truck to get it out. After the emergency responders left, we watched as other drivers attempted to navigate up and down the hill. Some gave up, turned around and looked for alternate routes, but others simply made the road conditions worse. When their tires started spinning, which should have signaled to them that they were applying too much power, they did exactly the opposite of what they should. Most simply pushed the accelerator to the floor and spun their way up the hill. Of course this melted all the snow under their tires, which refroze as soon as they passed, leaving the hill icier than before. Several of the neighbors suggested that we make scorecards to rate the various drivers' performances.

Eventually, it must have warmed up a little bit, because the road cleared, and the traffic stopped struggling with the hill. Today's temperature is supposed to be above freezing, so the inch or so of snow we got will be mostly gone by tonight. But at least it finally feels (and looks) like winter!

There's no shortage of birds in our neighborhood, including a number of colorful varieties (Bluejays and Cardinals being the most common). Our neighbors maintain a number of feeders in their yard, so we have a pretty constant flow of birds through our yard, which provides for entertaining bird watching. So, while I'm accustomed to seeing colorful birds flying about, I was a bit shocked by the one I saw this morning. As I was walking down the hill to catch my bus to work, I saw a flash of bright yellow-green. To the best of my knowledge, there are no native birds that color, so this caught my attention. A moment later, as small parakeet landed on the sidewalk a dozen yards in front of me! It was pecking at some seeds on the ground, and it let me approach to within a couple of feet before flying away. I'm sure it must be a pet that escaped or was set free. I also wonder about its long term survival prospects here, in this alien environment. Will it survive our winter? Will its bright color make it easy prey for a predator? I'll have to watch to see if it hangs around the neighborhood.

Yesterday afternoon, the Qgeeklets went off to play at a friend's house, and Mrs. Qgeek and I found ourselves with an afternoon to ourselves and nothing to do (poor planning, that, eh?). Since we weren't excited by any of the movie choices in the nearby theaters, and because it was a beautiful day, we decided to go for a walk in the historic district of Alexandria.

We parked on the edge of Old Town, and strolled down to the waterfront. It was a pleasant walk, with the flowers blooming and the leaves just coming out on the trees. When we reached the river, we turned toward King Street and the heart of Old Town. Now I haven't been down in this part of Old Town on a weekend in a long time, so I was a bit surprised by the amount of street life. There were crowds of people walking up and down King Street and along the waterfront. There were a number of street performers, including a cellist, a trumpeteer and a guy playing his "water harp," a table covered with glasses filled with varying levels of water. This last guy was quite impressive, playing Pachelbel and Bach, as well as some more contemporary tunes by running his fingers over the edges of these glasses. Amazing.

We continued our stroll, watching a clown make balloon animals for the kids, and parrot rescue group show off some of their birds. The air was festive, and all the people seemed to be enjoying the glorious weather. We continued back up King Street, back towards where we left the car. At Washington Street, we took a brief detour to cut through the cemetery at Christ Church (which was where both George Washington and Robert E. Lee attended services), before returning to our uphill climb on King Street. Eventually, we returned to the car and headed home, but it was a very pleasent way to spend part of our afternoon. My only regret it that I didn't grab a few books to take with us before we left!

I was walking to my bus stop in the pre-dawn dark this morning and had an adrenalin inducing close encounter with some of our large neighborhood animals. I still find it incongruous that I can live within a few hundred meters of one of the busiest interstate highways in the eastern U.S. and yet have plentiful wild animals in our neighborhood. I have seen foxes, raccoons and rabbits. But by far the most impressive are the whitetail deer that wander through the backyards. Our encounters with the deer have become more frequent lately, as the home builders continue to clear the remaining parcels of wooded land to erect "McMansions" to feed the real estate frenzy in this area. This leaves our resident deer population with fewer places to hide and eat, so they are venturing more and more into backyards, feeding on lawns, flower beds and gardens. The frequently wander through our backyard, jumping over the split rail fence that surrounds our lot.

This morning provided me with my closest physical proximity to our neighborhood deer. Because of the darkness and some bushes, I didn't see the deer standing just off to the side of the sidewalk, until one started to walk towards the street. The movement, not more than a dozen feet away from me startled me, causing me to break my stride. At the same moment, the deer noted my presence, and reacted immediately, reversing direction and crashing through the bushes between the adjacent homes. There's nothing quite like a sudden and unexpected close up encounter with a large animal to wake you up. Its better than caffeine!