A glorious weekend.
Scott picked me up after work on Friday, and we biked down to the sculpture garden for a picnic dinner accompanied by live jazz. This was the first time I've been able to "Jazz in the Garden" this summer, and it was wonderful: just the right temperature, and packed with families, couples, groups of friends. Such a perfect way to end the week! Dinner was comprised of Whole Foods delicacies: fresh ciabatta, mustard seed gouda, tomatoes sprinkled with salt, mixed olives, a dark chocolate-y beer, and blueberries for dessert.
We didn't get moving quite as early as we had intended on Saturday morning, but we did eventually make it out to Carderock where I got to climb outdoors for the first time ever! It’s a beautiful location, and we had perfect weather. I was surprised at how different it felt from indoors. Grippier. Greater friction let me trust tinier holds. But it meant that my fingers and toes got worn out before the rest of me. (Usually my arms go first.) Hopefully I can stay out a little longer next time I go. I’m definitely impatient to go again soon!
I spent the afternoon wandering around the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and through DC while Scott got caught up on work. I saw a great band, AfriCaribe, in the Nuestra Música: Latino Chicago section of the festival, as well as a neat hip hop group. From there, I moved on to the Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions section, which didn’t look all that exciting on the Smithsonian website, but which was definitely worth a visit. Each tent represented a different region of North America, and just about each one had live demonstrations going on. The baskets were beautifully constructed and patterned; seeing them made me want to learn how to weave them myself.
The Festival was closing down for the night at this point, so I didn’t get to see the Alberta tents. Instead, I took a walk up through the city to Dupont – something I haven’t done in a long time. When I first moved to DC, I had all kinds of time on my hands, so I walked everywhere. I didn’t really see anything new, but I saw it at a new pace. I read the names on the bases of statues and eavesdropped on tourists’ conversations.
At Dupont, I watched some breakdancers and tried to block out the whiny singer with a guitar. I read the New Yorker, dozed off for a bit, and eventually went back home with Scott.
We spent the evening playing games with LT, Taren and Mike. Taren taught us a new game, Things, which I will certainly spread to new circles of friends. It’s a riot.
I had a peaceful, New-Yorker-filled Sunday morning, and then did chores while Scott had Ultimate practice. I went for a long-ish run, which felt good even though it demonstrated how out of shape I am. Around 2, Scott and I helped two of his friends move into their beautiful new house. We all hung out to watch Italy’s victory, got dinner (falafel!) and then split. Poor Scott had to go back to the office, so I put together a vegetable-bean salad for the week and had a peaceful New-Yorker-filled night.
The weekend felt long and relaxed without being lazy. Maybe not as exciting as a tournament or touring another city, but easily as desirable.
(This is my first 5-day work week in over a month! How am I going to survive until next weekend?)
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