Christmastide in Middle America

No posts for a long time, for which I am remiss. However I feel safe in supposing that most have been too busy hanging their stockings with care to have noticed a slight dip in the frequency of my posts. While Christmas tide is still upon us for 6 more days, the big event itself has come and gone.

As some of you know I made my annual pilgrimage to Kansas to keep the Christmas observance this year. Unique to this go around, however, was the stop in central Kansas (Hutch) to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. It was wonderful to see so many relatives including some I haven't seen in years. My grandmother taught me how to make egg noodles, though I ate much much more than that while at her house.

After celebrating with my dad's family, we headed back to Eastern Kansas to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. As usual there were around 30 people in my grandpa Wohlgemuth's house. Afterwards we went to the candlelight service at Saint Marks where my dad and I provided a rousing rendition of Go Tell It On the Mountain. That has to be one of the best parts of Christmas.

Gifts were given and received. Pictures were taken. Too much food was eaten. Many gallons of gasoline were burned. In all it was a wonderful trip back to Middle America, and I hope to be seeing many of you much sooner than later.

I'll be celebrating New Year in New York with Amon. More details to follow.

Neat building (now a bank) over by the white house. The White House is about 200 yards behind me where I'm standing here. 

I wasn't sure which of these two shots I liked best for putting the building in context. They seem to give the building vastly different feels. 

Closer up shot highlighting the corner turret and the patina of the copper. 

Another Shot 

I thought this church, nestled in among all of the buildings, was quite interesting. I suppose it might be more appropriate to say the buildings sprung up around the church. 

The view of the Church resolves as you approach. It's an old Episcopal church from the days of Abraham Lincoln. 

The red door of the Episcopal Church. 

Went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in China Town and they had this really cool sculpture of a hoarse, done in some kind of drift wood. Very cool looking in person. 

Short Post 4 a Short Week

One of the best things about a week with a holiday is that because of the elongated holiday weekend, you get a shortened work week. Also, you don’t have to worry (as much) about having things pile up as most other people who would be contributing to the piling are gone as well. So that is a happy thought.

Having said that, I wish everyone an (early) Happy Thanksgiving. May your holiday be full of people to hug and good food to be thankful for.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire

Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people. ~Elizabeth Berry

Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~Tommy Smothers

Pre-season Cheer

I realize this sort of thing is supposed to wait until AFTER Thanksgiving, but what the heck…

At my Lewis small group last week Bruce brought a bunch of old movies/CDs he was wanting to give away (which I thought was pretty much a wonderful idea, I should follow suit). In his collection was an overwhelming amount of Christmas music which jumpstarted my thinking about the Christmas season. I think that one of the most…nostalgic?...aspects of Christmas (aside from food) is the music. The Vince Guiardi Trio score to Charlie Brown Christmas has a way of draining every last bit of stress out of me, no matter when I listen to it. I really don’t think it is physically possible to be stressed out when this music is on, which is a good thing since much that has to do with the rest of Christmas can get very stressful.

I didn’t watch a lot of classic Christmas movies over and over, but the few I did watch on occasion really left their mark. So this week I wanted to prompt some discussion by asking what your favorite Christmas movies are.

I really like:
Charlie Brown Christmas
White Christmas
A Christmas Story
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (the claymation/animation one)

Sky Line Drive

Famous Drives:
Lake Shore Drive - Chicago
Mullholland Drive - LA
Fifth Avenue - NY
Pennsylvania Avenue - DC
..AND Sky Line Drive in Virginia.

Ok, so maybe skyline drive isn't as famous as the above mentioned drives, BUT it is certainly beautiful. My first time going up skyline drive was with Malcolm late last year as spring was changing to summer. This year I went with Amon as Summer was changing to Fall. Since I finally got around to downloading these off my camera, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites (decided you probably didn't want to see all 150+). Enjoy. Oh, and stay tuned for more night shots from the Dupont Area.

~MikeyC>

My favorite part about the drive was the contrast of the deep rich colors of the leaves agains the clear blue sky. So beautiful. 

While we were driving along Skyline, I saw this one tree that was completely bare already up ontop of a big rock outcropping. We stopped so I could climb up there and take some pictures. 

When I got to the top I saw this other tree. It was a really interesting horizontal shape and i just liked the look of the withered wood with the rest of the gold leaves and blue sky. 

I have no idea what this vegetation is but it looked like a very well manicured topiary that just happened to be naturally occuring. Really neat I thought. 

Up there I found a tree that had these big bunches of bright berries hanging from it. 

Some berries among the small remaining bits of green grass. Great color contrast. 

As I walked around up on this peak area I found a cool rock formation. On the rocks was a single ladybug. It was still moving, slowly, but must have been miserable. 

Inside the rock formation I found this intersting view out of the cave. The shape the rocks made was almost more intersting that the view between them. 

On the drive home I set a tripod up on the front seat and got some interesting motion blurs. 

Slow Food

Most everyone is use to the concept of fast food, but from my experience most people don't think as much about slow food. I find it very refreshing that there is an organization out there trying to promote the idea of something as simple as sitting down to a meal that is cooked from quality ingredients.

I've been thinking about this alot lately since I read the book Coming Home to Eat, and also because one my favorite things to do with friends here in DC is have dinner parties. When I stop by the farmer's market to buy a loaf of bread, some vegetables, or cheese, I am surrounded by people who have taken time out of their day specifically to visit the market; these are mostly people who are there not because food was a last minute thought on the way home, but because they took time out of their day to look for ingredients.

Some how it just feels right to be picking your food out of baskets at a booth under the open sky. It's nice to be able to ask questions of the people who grew the food you are about to buy instead of asking a sales clerk whose job it is to stock cans and make sure the zuccini gets sprayed down at 10:30, 12:30, and 2:30. It's also nice to know that the food you're buying was grown and produced within a short driving distance of the market. This isn't food that was grown halfway around the world, packaged across the country and shipped in a train to your city. I still shop at grocery stores for some of my food, truth be told I still shop at grocery stores for MOST of my food. I'm simply trying to describe the difference in feeling I get from shopping at a farmer's market versus at a grocery store.

When I turn the oven on and put some bread in to toast, when I heat up a skillet with oil and butter to sautee vegetables, when I start soup stock simmering in a pot there is a feeling simplicity associated with it. I know that people have been doing this for thousands of years. I know that people have been using these same ingredients and same basic techniques forever. I can't really explain why that feels good but it does. And when you add other people to the mix it becomes even better.

We all have to eat. There was a time when extended families, all living under the same roof, would set aside what they were doing and come together to break bread. This communal sharing of a necessity such as eating became the basis for many celebrations and festivals. The Israelites were told to commemorate the sparing of their first born in Egypt with a very special feast, when Jesus sat down with his disciples for the last time it was during this same feast; here Christ once more consecrated the simple acts of eating and drinking. We breath all day without ceasing, when we sleep we are alone with our thoughts, the one other physical requirement we have is an activity that we do at set times throughout the day and may be shared with brothers and sisters. It seems that because it is the one absolutely essential activity in life that happens at discrete times throughout the day, this one has been given special prominence, this one can be done in community.

The next time you have a chance, sit down and really SHARE a meal with those you care for. Take time preparing the meal, letting the aromas of food draw everyone present into the anticipation of the eating. Really be present with the other people around the table. Be a part of each other's day. Slow down for a minute.

A Photo For You

I decided to take some more photos in the series I'm tentatively titling, "On the Street Where You Live". The pictures below are from around my neighborhood one crisp fall evening. I had to put on a long sleeve shirt and the sweater to keep warm as I knelt down for minutes at a time crouching in front of the tripod, waiting for the right combination of traffic, clouds, and lighting. Then another 30 seconds for each as I cued a 2 second self timer (to minimize camera shake), waited for the 15 seconds of exposure, and another 10 seconds for the image to save.

I was pretty happy with the end results. I have "accidentally" captured photos as good as these before while doing night photography (long exposures), but up until now it's mostly been experimentation. The difference here was “intentionality”. Being able to set out with certain images in mind is, I feel, equal important as spontaneously recognizing a moment.

I hope you enjoy!

One of my favorites. I just love how the color of the house plays off the color of the sky. I tried to get one with more clear sky showing but was getting impatient. 

Not sure if I like this one or the one just above it better. At any rate these are two of my favorites. 

Along T street I found this bright yellow Xterra. i liked the way it looked agains the trees and thought I'd try to get a car passing in front of it. This was the result. I wanted to bring the Xterra up just a bit in the shot (rule of 1/3's) but felt it eliminated too much of the skyline (wanted that dark blue to play off the yellow). Unfortunately my lens wasn't wide enough to let me zoom out any more. 

Intersection of 18th and T. Feel free to disagree but I really enjoy the way this shot makes NW DC look like a ghost town (about the furthest thing from what it is). All that blue/black sky, the single lamp post. The short building. 

Side Shot of Lauriol Plaza emphasizing the roof deck. I love how it makes the restaurant look like a tree house. I had several others but liked the "profile" effect of this one. 

Another View of Lauriol Plaza, I'd probably play with the saturation on this one a bit before I tried making a print. Also, happens to be my least favorite of this grouping. 

In an Alley just off T Street, by Mi Casa 

Same Alley by T Street