Brick sidewalk

This narrow bricked sidewalk could be a little country village, but it’s Old Town, Alexandria, just a couple of miles from Reagan National Airport. By the way, charming as those bricks are, they’re uneven and it’s very easy to turn your ankle.

Breeding like … rabbits

Everywhere you look in Old Town, Alexandria, there are rabbits. This one decorates a windowbox.

Well, you know what they say about rabbits!

The best kind of bunny for a garden

Yet another garden rabbit—all the cuteness without the destruction to plant life! This one was not far from yesterday’s rabbit or the rabbit I posted in July.

Please wipe your feet

This little bunny apparently thinks it’s a great joke to have you wipe your feet on his tummy. He lives on a front porch in Old Town, Alexandria.

Krispy Kreme: new but not improved

A while back I posted an old photograph of Krispy Kreme, somewhere I used to like to go—not particularly to eat the doughnuts but to watch them being made. You used to be able to see the whole huge assembly line process through windows on the side. They tore down the old KK a few years ago and built this updated model where you can no longer see the donuts marching by. I’ve never had any urge to go in.

Justice for immigrants

On Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, Marie McC posted photographs of a mural in progress in the Chirilagua (a.k.a. Arlandria) neighborhood in Alexandria. It’s a neighborhood where many immigrants, particularly Hispanic immigrants, live; the mural is rich with symbolism. This detail shows a sheriff holding his hand up to stop a woman (who can’t be seen in this picture) at the border. The baby wearing a diaper/nappy behind him is George Washington, with his nurse, an African American slave. The angry-looking man at the upper right is a judge, pointing the would-be immigrants back to the countries they came from. The sign round his neck refers to House Resolution 4437 “To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws, to enhance border security, and for other purposes,” introduced in December 2005. You’ll find two more detail photos of the mural here.

Watershed friendly landscaping II

A watershed friendly garden doesn’t necessarily mean having a pond or other water feature, but many of the gardens I visited on the Arlington County tour did have ponds. This one was particularly lovely and just the sound of the water on a hot day made me feel instantly a little cooler.

Watershed friendly landscaping I

Anything we do on land eventually affects the streams, rivers, lakes, and the ocean because the runoff takes into the water pollutants, chemicals, fertilizer, pesticides, animal droppings, and so on.

The most obvious ways we can help are to pick up after our animals; not to pour oil or paint or other hazardous materials into the storm drains—in the Washington area, whatever is dumped into a storm drain eventually ends up in the Cheapeake Bay to the detriment of fish and wildlife; and not to use environmentally unfriendly fertilizers, weed killers, and pesticides.

Gaining in popularity are watershed friendly gardens that make use of native plants and trees, composting, nonharmful chemicals, and various other practices to conserve water in the garden itself, and to ensure that any runoff is not going to harm the local watershed. Such landscaping also creates an inviting habitat for wildlife.

This summer, Arlington County held a Watershed Friendly Yard Tour, and the owners of this house were proud participants.

Red head and friend

These statues with blown glass heads were among the more flamboyant pieces of art on show at the Alexandria Art Fair on Sept. 9 and 10.

Five years later

It’s five years since the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and part of the Pentagon here in Washington, D.C.

I lived, at the time, about two miles (as the crow flies) from the Pentagon. Firehouse 107 is that neighborhood’s local fire station, and the firefighers are a part of the community. They bring up the rear at all the neighborhood parades and usually turn the hoses on so the children can play in the water. In the holiday season, the engine drives round the streets, lights flashing and bells ringing, with one of the firemen on top, dressed as Santa Claus.

Engine 107 was at the Pentagon within minutes of the impact of American Airlines flight 77, one of the first rescue crews on the scene. Our firefighters certainly helped to save many lives.

Thank you to the operators of Engine 107 and to all the other brave rescue workers in Washington and New York, many of whom lost their own lives as they attempted to save others.

And to the City Daily Photo bloggers who remembered on their sites, thank you, too.