From One Extreme to the Other

It’s been six months since we took a road trip. We have been very cautious since the pandemic due to our age and the general trends. The last time was at Thanksgiving to visit our family in central Virginia. So we were looking forward to spending time with them for the weekend. Our grandson just finished his first year at college and wouldn’t be around this summer so it was good timing. It’s about a three hour drive if all goes well. The time to travel is shorter now since we live in northern Virginia instead of Capitol Hill. Just getting out of the city is at least a half an hour more. What we like to see most is the total difference in surroundings - from construction zones and heavy traffic leaving and upon our return compared to the tranquility of the more rural landscape. And no where is it more obvious the further south we go - from I495 to I66 to 29S through Charlottesville and one hour more after that. The flat land, congestion and freeways turn in to rolling meadows, farmland, mountains, and tranquility. The time went by very quickly and the ride back was just there hours flat on a Monday morning. We missed rush hour and it makes a big difference. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another six months to visit. It’s like night and day in more ways than one. 

Urban Gardens

Some are more elegant than others, which is the case for most things. The flower gardens are abundant, but it was the vegetable gardens that I was on the look out for today while on our morning walk. We had a very large space for a garden in the Midwest. Here in DC, we have a tiny patio garden that we always plant a couple cucumber vines and a tomato plant. But that vegetable garden is in an enclosed space with a wooden fence around it. The vegetable gardens we saw today are located on the corner of busy streets, in front of the rowhouses, on the side of townhouses, and all along the busy sidewalks and foot traffic where anyone could easily grab the fresh produce, or manhandle the garden in any possible way. Some are enclosed in chain link fences to keep out critters and whatever else that might want to come by. Some are impressive structures and well manicured. Others are hastily put together and pretty much on their own. I liked the "corn field" on the corner of a place near union station. In the end, everyone is after a slice of the less urban landscape rather than the concrete jungle. There is nothing better than fresh stuff out of the garden. All it takes is a little bit of interest and finding a place to put it.