Down Time

Today was a down time day. Mel woke up sick as a dog and I was achy and had a bit of a sore throat. So we decided to lie low and take time to heal ourselves. Actually, it was a good thing that we did do that. Our plans had been to visit the U. S. Capitol Building.

When I turned on the local news at noon, the entire broadcast was filled with news that the Capitol Building and the Sam Rayburn Senate Office Building were in lock down. A House Representative had reported that he had heard gunshots in the parking garage of the office building. The police responded immediately and e-mails were sent to offices in both buildings that ordered staff and visitors to remain in their locked offices until the police checked on them. It was also reported that the Washington, DC schools were ordered into lock down.

The upshot of the whole story was that there were construction crews working in the parking garage and something that they were doing made it sound as if gun shots were being fired. Better to err on the side of caution, I guess. But people here are really nervous wrecks since 9/11 and other traumatic incidents. I talked with our friends, Dennis and Marilyn, today and their daughter, who works in DC, happened to be at the Capitol Building when all of this was going on. She was able to e-mail them that she was okay so they were relieved to hear that she was safe. By 3 p.m., both buildings were re-opened and the business of the day continued.

Because we weren't able to tour today, I am posting pictures from our tour yesterday at the National Gallery of Art. The photo above is of the "Cascade" waterfall outside one of the art museum's cafes. This water feature was a stunning amenity of the Gallery.

I believe that this is a Toulouse Lautrec painting. Isn't it grand? I wonder what she is thinking or day dreaming about. And here is a wonderful sculpture from the Sculpture Gallery of a woman reading. Since I am so fond of reading, I wanted to include this photo. Although I know many of my women friends read, I don't believe that they are attired nor disrobed as this one, but perhaps I do not know them well. One of my few accomplishments today was to finish another installment of the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. This series is light, but delightful, summer beach reading.

Here is a portrait of another woman reading. Just wanted to keep the theme going. Another series that I enjoy is the Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross. I recently finished Miss Julia's School of Beauty. Again, this is light summer reading and these books are humorous as well as friendly. The characters that have been created are people that you'd like to know.

Now I don't want you to think that my mind has turned to mush on this trip. While at home for Easter, I finished two challenging books that Michelle's book club was reading. One was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini about the tragic life of a boy in Afghanistan. The other was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon about a boy with autism (fascinating how the author could place you inside the mind of someone with this disease).

So many books, so little time!