Dusk Before the Storm

The sun is finally out after four days of dreary and wet skies. I usually don’t think of tropical storms living in Virginia. But with the crazy weather and hurricane season anything is possible. So when we learned we were going to be in Ophelia’s path I wasn’t looking forward to the long dark weekend through yesterday. But on the Friday evening before the upcoming storms the skies were simply beautiful. It was almost ethereal. My husband doesn’t get why I love looking at the evening sky. When we moved to northern Virginia from Capitol Hill four years ago we made sure we had a western view for the purpose of seeing the sky at dusk. He wasn’t even moved by the Milky Way that we saw in southern France with his old medical school colleague and family. I thought it was cool. But then we had a telescope when we were youngsters and enjoyed looked at Venus and the constellations. So as the sky changed from early to late evening the oranges and reds and hues came to life. I’m looking forward to the next time. 

Ophelia Changes our Morning Walk

We always take a morning walk and have been since I retired several years ago, and before that on the days I wasn’t working. We usually drive over to the neighborhood park for the 2.4 miles duration. At least once a week we drive in to town - either to the Tidal Basin or the National mall - sometimes in our old neighborhood on Capitol Hill. If not there, it’s Alexandria and Theodore Roosevelt Island. If it rains we drive over to the Mall - although with Covid recirculating we are staying away from indoors as much as possible. So when Ophelia decided to rear it’s ugly head this weekend the last two days have been rather wet and dreary - so much so that we decided against walking in the neighborhood streets and the park. So we walked where it was the best alternative - our parking structure. At least it’s safe from the elements, but it is a total bore. We haven’t walked there since the height of the pandemic. So it’s not a happy reminder even though it’s an option. There are four levels to the lot. The first and second levels are shared spaces with the office building across the street. The condo owners spaces are gated off in the third and fourth levels. So there is an adequate amount of space to complete at least two miles. And oftentimes we will run in to a neighbor or two - some on foot and some driving in and out. I wouldn’t recommend doing this on a daily basis. But when there is a tropical storm it works.