A Weird Week in Washington DC

One thing is for sure - the leaves are beginning to turn yellow and lighter, and Fall is inevitably on the way. Other than that, not a lot is very certain around this neighborhood this week.  It's been surreal not having to go to work because of a fourth day of government shutdown. Neither my husband nor I are feeling well this week... we both caught what is more than a cold and less than the flu, but enough to make you want to sleep most of the day. And of course, on top of that, we are experiencing water leaks from the unit above us, and no one seems to want to do anything about it. It's a Friday afternoon and it is a ghost town. Everything is still closed, and the pedestrian traffic is close to nothing compared to the usual bursts of traffic and mayhem.... unfortunately we experienced a little bit of that yesterday afternoon when we were diverted away from the Capitol on our way home, only to find out the reason for it was another unfortunate circumstance. The garbage is piling up on the Mall, and the gates to the monuments, gardens, and parks are closed tight. Who would have thought last year we would have to be thinking about all this nonsense? Last night we received an email from dear friends in Milwaukee, telling us they welcomed a new grand daughter. Finally we felt a surge of normalcy after a week of strange happenings.