Dull, duller, dullest

Monday and no meaningful or non-meaningful work has crossed my desk for hours now. I have had 3 phone conversations with clients, read one email rant against another title company's shortcomings, had 2 face-to-face talks about inconsequential matters, and eaten my lunch. The sun is shining briefly and I should be outside walking in it. But I am waiting for an anxious client to phone me for a "closing via telephone" - - she has the documents, and wants me to stand by so that she can be sure of what she is signing. After that, I'm free to wander off and be happy.

3:26 p.m. - phone closing was late but is finished, so I'm off for a bit - the sun is hidden - too bad. But I'm still off for a bit.

Back 20 min later - great grey clouds with small openings edged with bright sunlit white opening to blue blue. But windy & not warm.

Shortly thereafter arrived the documents from anxious client - faxed 8-9 to loan processor. Once the fax went through I was out of there, just before 5 & hoping for 30 min. drive home - foiled on Whitehurst Fwy because up on Key Bridge, outbound, were the flashing lights of police and first&rescue in the outside lane. So 3 lanes squeezed to 2 and looky-looks drove slowly by. Big raindrops splatted on the windshied as I sped up past the last police car, and hard rain quickly followed - all the way home. Pork chops & mashed potatoes & mushy peas made for a good hearty dinner, with some red wine for me.

Tuesday: my day off. Joe said there's a big truck & crane putting something up on the roof of the library. I went to see, and it's a large stone carving of an acanthus leaf(?) hoisted onto the brick/concrete platform at the library streetcorner. A young man videoing the procedure said the sculpture is from the Abbey Mausoleum which was on the grounds of land Arlington County bought from ?Ft. Myer in 2004. There's also 2 pair of Tiffany windows from same place going into the library sometime soon. The young man and I like the way the county is reusing architectural elements as amenities to new construction. (Have some photos to post).

The Abbey Mausoleum I had never heard of. Best information came from a United Daughters of the Confederacy article about moving the remains of the widow of Confederate General George Pickett from the long-abandoned Abbey Mausoleum. It was located adjacent to Henderson Hall, the US Marine Corps. facility at the south edge of Arlington National Cemetary. It seems to have been a prestigious site for interrment of prominent persons (politicians mostly?) but was abandoned in the 1950s to vandalism and deterioration. The county purchased the property after the Corps had removed the remains to other burial places.