RAVPower Charger

I bought it quite a while back - long before we moved to northern Virginia from Capitol Hill. I always take a lot of photos for this blog and for personal use with my iPhone, and you never know when the battery might run out when you aren’t near a plug. So I researched a bit about small sized portable charging devices and came upon the RAVPower “pen.” It’s been in my purse since I got it. But since the pandemic I don’t even take a purse anymore  - just my phone with credit cards, driver license, and health cards. We don’t go anywhere anyway that requires hauling around all the junk I used to. When the power went out this week in our condo building, my phone wasn’t charged. So I figured I better do something about that, not knowing how long the outage would last. So I dug through my purse and found the charger - not knowing if it would even work. So I plugged it in to my phone using an apple cord and watched as the three lights on the clip turned off one by one as the phone reset. There was enough to get it full, but not enough to charge another device. Once the power returned I plugged it back in to recharge it in case we would ever need it again. Not having electricity is not a comfortable situation. Being prepared to manage it always helps. If nothing else we could always get in the car and drive around awhile while the battery gets charged. This way was a lot more convenient. 

No Power - Thank Goodness We Weren’t in the Elevator

We just got back home from picking up groceries at Harris Teeter. That meant an elevator ride from the parking space to our condo. Just as we settled down, everything went quiet - eerily quiet. The usual humming and noises and sounds stopped, the Wi-Fi quit, and the peep hole view looking in to the hallway was dark. The emergency light in our den was on, so I knew it was not just our condo. The office building across the street was dark. So I searched the internet for power outages and it was noted in our area. I checked dominion energy and logged in our problem and it indicated there was an outage that would be addressed between 5-10 PM. The next door digest app was full of neighbors saying they were experiencing the same thing. Verizon sent an email and text that service was disrupted. The condo building sent a text that the power was out widespread in our area. My question was - why didn’t the building generator kick in? That was one of my first questions before we bought a condo here. When we lived on Capitol Hill probably one of the few perks was underground electric. We probably had 3-4 instances of power outages over 13 years, and those were due to human error. So I got my spare phone charging battery out and zapped my phone to full charge, thinking we may need our personal hotspot later in the evening. The power was restored about 2-3 hours later, just in time to prepare dinner. We still don’t know what happened nor did we get an explanation about the generator - yet. It just makes us realize how dependent we are on electricity and how utterly helpless one feels when it’s gone. Thank goodness we weren’t in the elevator. 

Old Town Alexandria Beautiful, Seasonal Window Boxes

Our window box contents need upgrading. The petunias are on their last legs and a more seasonal display is warranted. The notion struck me as we were wandering the streets of Old Town Alexandria last week. In the Midwest I always had window boxes filled with all year flowers and seasonal Christmas decor. A lot of what I put in them were sticks and pine cones I found in the back yard. Now we have a small balcony with smaller containers, but at least it’s something to decorate and enjoy from our living room. Of course, there were a lot of Halloween themed designs with plenty of colorful gourds and pumpkins, witches legs, and spiders. But the violas, pansies and ivy were the primary fillers. I really miss going to the garden shop and hunting for just the right thing, but have figured out an alternative approach. So in the mean time I’ll check out the window boxes in this and other neighborhoods for inspiration. Flowers are always so pretty regardless where they are. 

Morning Walk on the National Mall

It wasn’t what we thought it would be. Our morning walk on the National Mall didn’t meet our expectations. The city was dead, there was no sunshine, everything was under construction and all the sidewalks were blocked off. In front of our old condo we couldn’t find a place to park because the sidewalks were ripped up and the work trucks were blocking the streets. That was commonplace when we lived there. At least our favorite squirrels were on hand to meet and greet. The squirrels in DC were always very friendly because they usually got and accepted a lot of handouts. Whatever huge fruit that looks like a brain and falls off the trees this time of year has become a seasonal treat. The Capitol was fenced off as the inauguration platform was being constructed. The only sign of the season was the Hirshhorn sculpture garden - otherwise it was pretty green. Even walking through the US Botanic Garden and Bartholdi Fountain was underwhelming. A few flowers were making their best effort to attract our attention. On the way back to the car I noticed a window that was replaced with brick and not exactly a close match to the existing color. It ended up being too long of a walk which is ironic since we used to travel that distance every day. So we have become older and more out of shape and Capitol Hill becomes more and more difficult to climb. Yes, there really is a hill and it’s a lot easier heading towards the bottom. 

Spooky Streets of Old Town Alexandria

After viewing the skeleton party on Prince Street in Old Town Alexandria on our morning walk last week, we headed in the opposite direction that we normally do. There, the neighborhood is more residential and less business oriented - where people have probably lived for a long time. One can only imagine who has walked the streets of this place! A full size wicked witch of the west and her broomstick were in the window of one home - and the legs of the old witch were under the house. There were ghouls and goblins everywhere - it must look really creepy in the evening and night hours. Skeletons seem to be the main theme more than most years, along with a black cat and plenty of pumpkins. The ascending bats on the house was an interesting element. Luckily there were less frightful scarecrows and friendly ghosts too. Old Town usually puts on a show during this frightful season and this year was no exception.