US Botanic Garden Orchids

Perhaps it is for the holidays - or just to brighten up the short winter days.  Whatever the reason, the US Botanic Garden's orchid room is a treat to behold.  Here are some of the lovelies on display

Hiking with friends

I have a lot of friends in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Association, and within that association are a group who like to hike together.  There's the annual Douglas Hike in springtime, commemorating the famous 1954 hike by Supreme Ct. Justice William O. Douglas that persuaded newspaper editors to support keeping the old decrepit and abandoned C & O Canal intact rather than creating a parkway.  And an annual Heritage Hike in the autumn just to celebrate the historical heritage of the old canal.

A smaller group who are recently retired have decided to hike more often, and this year it's become almost a weekly tradition.  My email exchanges seem to show the first - or one of the first - planned hikes was to have been March 15, 2011 at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia.  For one reason or other I didn't participate in that.

I've listed hikes I participate in and those I missed.  These are not overwhelming hikes in spectacular or breathtaking places.  Mostly 4 to 7 miles, within an hour's drive of DC.

March 15 - - Prince William Forest Park - - missed it.
March 27  - - PawPaw Tunnel Hill Trail, MD - - missed this one
April 12  - - Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, MD  - - ditto
April 19  - - Ford Mine and Gold Mine trails, Great Falls, MD
April 25  - - Great Falls, VA (along the river trail)
May 2  - - Greenbelt Park, perimeter trail, MD
     May 9 to 12 - - hike the AT from Lewis Mountain to [where??], staying in an apt. at Massanutten.
May 31  - - Carderock area, C & O Canal HNP, MD
June 4  - - Greenbriar State Park, MD - - missed that one
June 16  - - Seneca Greenway, MD
July 5  - - Black Hills Park, MD
July 11 - - Lake Needwood, MD
July 19  - - Difficult Run Trail, VA
July 26  - - Cabin John Trail to C & O Canal NHP towpath, MD
Aug. 3  - - Cedarville State Forest, MD - - missed this one
Aug. 9  - - Turkey Run Trail (downstream), VA
Aug. 15  - - Fort Washington National Park, perimeter trail MD
Aug. 23  - - Turkey Run & Potomac Heritage Trails (upstream - did not notice earthquake), VA
Sept. 6 - - Scott's Run Nature Preserve, VA
       [Sept 11 to 28 - - World Canals Conference, etc. in Netherlands - very little hiking]
Oct. 4  - - Sugarloaf Mountain, MD - - missed that one (sick)
Oct. 11  - - AT, Harpers Ferry to Loudoun Heights, VA - - missed that one (still sick)
Oct. 18  - - Rosaryville Perimeter Trail, MD
Oct. 25  - - Turkey Run Trail (again!), VA
Nov. 1  - - AT, Gathland to Weverton, MD
Nov. 8  - - Rock Creek Park (central), DC
Nov. 15  - - Bull Run Mountain, VA
Nov. 22  - - Rock Creek Park (northern), DC
Nov. 29  - - Lake Needwood, MD - - missed it
Dec. 6  - - Great Falls Park, VA
Dec. 13  - - Piscataway Park, many short trails, MD

For the rest of the year the group will be dealing with family members and so we will hike again in the New Year - - maybe even on New Year's Day??

Found poem at Safeway . . .

Sunday morning shopping at Safeway was finished.  In the parking lot, a cart had been left near my car, with a piece of 3-ring notebook paper lying there. 
To me it reads a little like a poem - - someone wants to make S'mores but realizes later that two ingredients have to be added - different pen.  Is that someone also going to make a large quantity of mac'n'cheese.  Coffee is clearly important. Is the parenthetical "(more)" for red potatoes suggestive of additional guests? and it's a different handwriting.

Last Stop: Amsterdam

Netherlands for the World Canals Conference in late September:   When the conference ended five friends and I moved on to Amsterdam.   Barbara had rented a 3-bedroom, 2-bath apartment for us - - not in the Centrum, but just South, a block from the Amstel train station.  Too bad our train did not stop there - - we had to go to the Central Station, take a tram to the rental agency for keys and directions, and then another tram to a stop that was about 8 blocks away.  Imagine this picture:  You're a Dutchman sitting at an outdoor cafe next to the Amstel River in the autumn sunlight and along come one man and five women lugging roller suitcases and speaking English.  Everyone, I swear, took note of us.  And it was a long walk over curbs and cobblestones.  My suitcase got a flat tire.  But we arrived at the apartment, settled in, made a grocery list, and planned where to go for dinner.

The next four days were spent exploring this very busy city, even though I'd finally succumbed to the respiratory infection that  my roommate (Typhoid Mary) had so generously shared with us all.  So my wits were dimmed and my body was weary. I was determined to see this city.  The photos weren't the greatest - many places and things were overlooked . . . so does that mean I'll have to rreturn? I think so.

Amsterdam's Botanic Garden is indoors and outdoors.  This room was dry, arid, and quickly exited.

The Butterfly House was very welcoming.  My Facebook page has a photo of me as landing pad for one of these.

I'd love to remember the names of these delicate creatures.

Don't they look like waiter's trays?

One of my favorite photos; there are only two figures, the way is narrow, the cobblestones are edged with bricks, there are two skinny trees at the end of the way. 

In Amsterdam, walkers, bikers, cars and canals all co-exist in apparent harmony.  This canal has the unwieldy name of Oudezijds Voorburgwal.

Memorial in the center of the Dam plaza.



It's impressive, not old, and has shops.  Formerly the post office built in the late 19th century, now a shopping center.



Very elaborate memorial for some long-forgotten naval officer in the Nieuwe Kirk.  Compare with Saskia's tombstone farther on.   For some reason, there was also an exhibit of wedding dresses here.

The sign on the fence was not truthful.  While renovation was complete, a small sign indicated the palace was closed for a week or two.

Tiny place, but very good mustard soup for lunch.



Goliath facing David in the Amsterdam History Museum.



Do you think they really are? 

Not quite a medieval gargoyle or grotesque.  But definitely interesting.

With the Singelgracht canal to my back, with traffic, fence, and construction facing me, it's difficult to see the Rijksmuseum's facade.

Big, beautiful, efficient, and crowded are the trams of Amsterdam.

Metro is new, runs underground, has unusual decor, and carried us to 4 blocks from our apartment.



translation:  Smurf Warning:  Smurf suspicious activity to go!



We were told that coffeeshops sell marijuana.  So I imagine the Funny People isn't for coffee.

Swans always add a note of tranquil elegance - even next to the "red light district".

Just a long tourist boat on the canal that passes near the Oude Kirk.

A very simple tombstone for the wife of Rembrandt in the Oude Kirk.

Amazingly ornate and magnificent baroque-period pipe organ in the Oude Kirk.



A touring group on yellow bikes cross the Dam - a large plaza in Amsterdam's Centrum.   The big building ahead is the royal palace.



What follow are many photos taken at Albert Cuyptmarkt - 2 blocks of a street dedicated to selling anything and everything - - I was mainly interested in food.
He's busy selling herring sandwiches with pickles, onions and lettuce.  I declined.

Sausages from everywhere European.



A forest of legs in many different leggings and tights.




Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese!



What is this man making, with his very hot grill and his clever batter dispenser?

Poffeltje!  Of course! 



The only Dutch clogs for sale were these - they're fleece, not wood!



Perhaps paying attention to labels in the market would  help with ordering dinner in a restaurant?  My Belgian cousin and I once puzzled over "ananas" in a Chinese restaurant - he knew what it is but not the English word. 



Fresh, cold fruit smoothies just in time for lunch




The Rijkmuseum was being renovated; the front covered with fencing and scaffolding, but the back, facing a large greensward called Museumplein, was lovely.




Now where would you expect to see cafe booths shaped like giant coffee cups?  At an airport, perhaps?  Yes - this is a Schiphol - to someone suffering from a heavy head cold, it was hallucinogenic.

I love travelling and seeing new places, eating new foods, meeting the challenges of a foreign language.  But not when I'm sick.  In Amsterdam there was no hotel concierge to direct me to a pharmacy; no green neon crosses as in France to tell me where I could find one; and nothing in Linda's guidebook.  I was dependent on a friend who shared her decongestant pills.  Never have I been so happy to see my husband, to be in my home, and to know how to call for aid.  The lesson :  Be better prepared for illness such as Typhoid Mary gave me.