National Museum of the American Indian

Last Friday after visiting the Botanic Gardens we then went to the National Museum of the American Indian next door. 

It was a golden color in the midday light. Notice the line of food trucks outside.

Daughter Sarah knew there was hoop dance performance scheduled for noon and we arrived just in time to get seats on the periphery and watch the dancer set up his hoops.

The performance space is much like a kiva.  Above the ceiling is a dome of rings.

The performance started with the flute playing.

Then the dancing to the beat of a drum and singing.

One by one the dancer picked up the hoops with his feet, tossing them over his head and around his body, never stopping.  13 hoops in all!

Then he invited children and parents to join hands and form a circle line.

The line wound tighter and tighter into the center of the circle and

then back out.

It was a microcosm of our nation with all races and nationalities, young and old, joining hands in the dance.

We visited the 4th floor briefly of this museum,

then headed over to the National Gallery of Art to grab lunch before heading back to Greenbelt on the green line.

U.S. Botanic Gardens

On Friday after Thanksgiving we joined daughter Sarah, son in law William and granddaughter on a subway ride into downtown Washington, DC.

Sarah had read there was a model train exhibit at the Botanic Gardens which is on the National Mall near the Capitol.

Lots of others had read the same thing and the line was incredibly long for such a very cold morning.

We opted to just visit the gardens inside and skip the train exhibit which was accessed through another door.  We did see one model train (above) at the entrance.

Inside was all decked out in holiday plantings.

"Seasons Greenings" they called it.

Christmas trees with coconut trees towering over them.

And everywhere these models of Washington landmarks.  Above Supreme Court.

Union Station

Library of Congress

Botanic Gardens

We wandered through different ecosystems.

The White House

Washington Monument

Smithsonian Castle

Jefferson Memorial.

When we saw this one a light bulb went off in our heads.  The dome is a gourd.

All these models were built with plant materials - 70 different ones the brochure told us.  The Capitol took more than 600 hours to build.

Lincoln Memorial with columns made of branches.  Also used: seagrape leaves, eucalyptus leaves, birch bark, corn husks, lichens, willow sticks (maybe those were the columns), coriander seeds, burl oak, kangaroo pods, wheat, sisal rope, pine cones scales and lots more.

Thanksgiving 2018

There are many things to be thankful for this year.

Family

Friends

Good Health

The Blue Wave

I hope you feel the same way.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope your feast is as good as the one this critter is having.

Smoke Filled Sunset

According to the Washington Post sunsets here in Maryland, D.C. and Northern Virginia are showing the smoke from the fires in California.

This is last night's sunset.

Here's the article with other sunset photos.

A Lovely Weekend

We had our youngest granddaughter here this past weekend.

16 months old and learning to walk.

She knows right where the toys and the books are.

She likes to play "Hoot Owl" with us.

Looking forward to having the other two granddaughters visit after Christmas along with daughter and son in law.

Baking

It's that time of year when lots of baking happens.

We have a granddaughter here this weekend so I knew that baking would be out of the question.  I baked these two apple pies on Wednesday and delivered them to friends on Thursday.  Dan was the driver for me because of the snow.

I was going to bake another pie today, Saturday, but realized that I better plan to take cookies to the church Thanksgiving potluck instead. 

Baked these oatmeal almond chocolate chip cookies on Wednesday as well.

Next week I'll be making two pumpkin pies to take to the family Thanksgiving gathering on Thursday.

Then it's on to baking cookies for Christmas!

Vexed

... with Blogger.

Now the problem is that I can't see my sidebar unless I sign out of Blogger and sign back in.

What gives?

11/17 - Issue seems to have resolved itself.

Late Fall And Early Winter

We had our first snow today.  We have had no fall to speak of.  Why is winter coming on so fast?

First snowflakes.

It was supposed be a dusting on the grass and raised surfaces with nothing accumulating on the roads.

Well the weather proved the forecast wrong.  Not sure of the accumulation but roads were a mess. 

Schools canceled after first delaying opening.

It's mid November!  Is this a taste of the winter we are to have?

Below before 8 am.

Below at 10 am through the bedroom window.  Sorry for the screen.

Lunch in the Woods

Last Sunday a group from church gathered for a walk in the woods and lunch at the creek side destination.

It was a blue sky day - one of very few that we have had this fall.

The youngest in the group was 5 and the oldest in their 70s.

Communing with nature with like minded friends made for a perfect outing.