52Frames_slowshutter

Last week was a very difficult photo challenge for me. Since I only use an iPhone for the 52Frames weekly affair, having to use a slow shutter was not easy. So I researched how I could even do a slow shutter on an iPhone and found an app that might be able to help. I downloaded the Camera +2 app, then I read about what I needed to do to take a slow shutter photo, and tried a few options. We first went to the tidal basin thinking a helicopter flying by the Washington monument might be good. It wasn’t. Apparently a tripod is required for these types of things and a shaky hand - even though I thought it was quite steady - didn’t do. Everything was blurry. The crows along the anacostia river in Potomac park east didn’t work out either. A truck passing by the monuments on an off ramp was a mess. So I tried capturing my husband’s moving foot. No good. How about a car passing by? A little better. And the tiny flying carpets that hang from the bedroom lamp? A little better. How about people walking on the sidewalk? No. I wasn’t happy with any of them. Then I thought I would try to do an “artistic selfie.” While sitting on the couch in a half light, I purposely overexposed it, set it for 3-4 seconds, and turned my head from left to right. The photo was at least a bit interesting and had a somewhat clear and slow shutter effect. I know I will never “win” any of these weekly efforts, but at  least I learned something new and figured out how to at least come up with an idea that met the challenge. It certainly kept my occupied for several hours. Now that I kind of know what I’m doing I’d like to try it out on another subject. This week the challenge is fast shutter. At least I have a better idea about that one. 

Cats and Cucumbers

We never had a cat since we prefer dogs. A friend of ours has two Burmese cats and he shared a photo of one of them that recently got clipped to look like a lion due to a coat problem. That reminded us of an article my husband saw about cats being afraid of cucumbers accompanied by several videos of cats jumping and scared when they saw a cucumber. So we asked our friend if his cats were afraid of cucumbers. He said he didn’t know but would find out. He sent us videos of both cats passing by the cucumbers without hardly noticing - more like ignoring them. That was a failed experiment. So he said he would try it with his son’s three cats and sent back videos of their reactions. They too ignored the cucumber - even when the whole family was participating in the experiment. All the while we were having a very fun back and forth over two days. It takes something as stupid as this to lift the spirits these days. In the end I don’t know why cats are afraid of cucumbers because five out of five ignored it. But it was a reminder that maybe slowly life will return back to normal. We have stayed more connected with friends over this kind of stupid stuff than ever before. It’s nice to have people around us who are as interested in pursuing weird ideas as we are. That’s what friends are for. 

Capitol Barbed Wire Finally Gone

Finally! It’s beginning to look a bit more “normal” on Capitol Hill. Since January 6 the perimeter around the Capitol was surrounded by tall metal fencing with barbed wire on the top. Behind the fence were national guard troops with long rifles. The fence extended all the way to the Library of Congress where I worked for ten years. So anyone getting in to the building not only had to pass through that mess, but the magnetometer and security station as well. Independence and Constitution Avenues were blocked off so we couldn’t even drive in to our old neighborhood. Additionally, our favorite US Botanic Garden was off limits as well as the Capitol reflecting pool. So after a lot of badgering from the neighbors, the barbed wire came down followed by reestablishing a new blocked perimeter that encompasses the Capitol grounds alone, and frees up the space otherwise. So now one can at least walk on the Supreme Court and Library of Congress Jefferson building street. Whenever we drive in to DC we usually stop in or pass through our old neighborhood where we lived for thirteen years. For whatever reason it looks really tired and unkempt. Having a fence around it didn’t help much. 

Tidal Basin Before the Blooms

Last week I wanted to get some slow shutter photos for the 52Frames challenge this week. So we drove in to town and took a ride around East Potomac Park, and then parked by the underpass along the Anacostia River and walked over to the tidal basin. The idea was to get a helicopter traveling past the Washington monument. It was a fiasco because I don’t know anything about slow shutter photography and didn’t have the essential tripod, but the walk around the Tidal Basin was lovely. The cherry blossom buds were just starting to show signs of life compared to the near full blossoms that we saw yesterday. It’s hard to believe that such rather ugly looking trunks and limbs turn in to a magical paradise. We walked as far as the FDR Memorial, then turned back around and walked over to the Jefferson Memorial that is undergoing renovation. It was a beautiful blue skies day and perfect for this excursion. I always try to find the best day of the week to get our drive in to the city. With spring here it’s the prettiest time of the year to visit. If the crowds get too large the park police plan to close down all the cherry blossom areas in the name of social distancing. For that reason we may ride over to the US Botanical Garden. We haven’t been there since we moved to northern Virginia. The flowers don’t last very long which is why they are so inviting. Luckily there are a lot of different places to find them. 

Chick Fil-A Birthday Dinner

We aren’t much in to celebrating holidays or birthdays. But they are remembered in less traditional ways. We were trying to figure out what to order in for dinner. Nothing sounded good. Then I remembered that my husband really had a thing for Chick Fil-A earlier in the week when we went to have our Subaru serviced in Tysons. We walked over to see if they had curbside pickup because it doesn’t have a drive in, and they did. So we thought that would be the best birthday dinner since it’s been over a year since we have been to a Chick Fil-A. We usually stop at one for dinner when we are on a road trip - but there haven’t been any. The place is just three miles away, but traffic is always a bit sketchy. I downloaded the app and we planned to drive over so we would be home by 6:30, then order once we arrived. It all went without a hitch. Dinner was everything we hoped it would be - spicy sandwich and salad, macaroni and cheese and waffle fries. Not having this kind of food routinely makes it all the more delicious. After dinner, the birthday candles came out and were placed on the cookie plate. My husband doesn’t care for cake. It felt like I had just gone through this motion yesterday. It’s already a year gone by. It sure feels better than last year at this time, but nothing like it did two years ago. At least spring is in the air and we are both healthy as things go. It was a great adventure to the Chick Fil-A and another memorable birthday. 

Birthday at the Dentist

It’s been a while since either of us has been to the dentist. We moved to northern Virginia almost two years ago. We connected with a new dentist at that time and made appointments. But we had to cancel them because my mom passed away. Then the pandemic came and we didn’t reschedule. My husband had had an ongoing dental issue that needed to be addressed, but it wasn’t an emergency. Since we are now both vaccinated for COVID, my husband made an appointment last week that was scheduled for today. It’s convenient enough - which is why we selected that office. I can see the building from our balcony. It’s not even a block away. He’s been there now for over two hours. He called earlier asking for some information required for the office, and texted that he had an X-ray. I only hope whatever he needed to have done gets done. It feels very strange that he is away since we have spent literally every hour of every day together for over the last year. Even making coffee for myself this morning was a strange thing. To make matters worse it is his birthday today. We don’t usually do any official celebrating, but it’s a hell of a way to start the day off. Hopefully all goes well and he has a good experience. Otherwise we’ll be looking for another dentist that may not be as convenient as this. I am waiting for the full report upon his return! 

SW Waterfront and East Potomac Park

We hadn’t been to East Potomac park since we moved to northern Virginia almost two years ago. So we took a ride for a morning walk. The first encounter is seeing the massive building and construction that has occurred at the SW Waterfront. We used to buy blue crabs and crab meat at Captain White’s when our family lived down the street from us on Capitol Hill. As we drove along the road everything looked really run down. All the sidewalks along the water were closed off. They looked quite damaged and ugly. All the garbage containers were overloaded and the crows were attacking each of them. We stopped for a bit and saw a couple of ducks. Then as we headed over to the other side there were a few fisherman sitting and waiting for the big catch. The airport was visible as usual. One of the dinner boats that probably hasn’t seen much action over the last year was sailing by. None of the cherry trees were even near blooming. We thought we might catch them early, but that wasn’t going to happen. This whole area will be blocked off from visitors when the trees are in bloom due to social distancing concerns. I can’t say we were very impressed by what we saw. So we probably won’t be visiting again any time soon.