It’s Washington’s first really sunny, cool, non-humid day, and I get out at Farragut North rather than Foggy Bottom to take a walk under the blue sky and the white clouds.
It’s noon, so everyone’s out; but downtown Washington, a clean, bland stretch of ‘sixties midrises, never pulses with excitement. Like most capital cities, it’s pleasant.
On the corner of 18th and Connecticut, two men waiting with me for the light chatter about
SurEEEna. That Serena Williams! Man.
Farther along, two women, one old, one young, walk arm in arm. As I pass, the younger says
And I’m lucky I have you.
A pair of businessmen, 19th and L:
They say it takes a week, but…
Let’s walk on the shady side.
Okay. They say it takes a week…
I’m on campus now, and everyone’s beautiful, young, and hoisting a backpack. A male student says into a cell phone:
I shouldn’t be making you suffer. I should be making her suffer.
Busts and statues of George Washington looking wise follow me about.
My mind is calm: La Kid called this morning to report all’s well in Galway, where she’s spending her junior year abroad.
Have you, I asked her, discovered the Galway Cupcakery? No, she said, and seemed to convey with her voice that this was an odd question for her mother to ask. It’s just that I remember how much you liked Georgetown Cupcake, I said. With my voice I conveyed that only a very good mother would remember this bit of trivia, and locate an Irish cupcakery for her child.
September 9th, 2010 at 9:43PM
Mrs. Polish Peter and PP enjoy Monroe’s Tavern in Galway. We once saw a fight start (not something that commonly happens in the places we go), but it was quickly broken up by the strapping bartenders who hurtled over the bar, separated the brawlers, and showed them the door. They then went around to each table and apologized on behalf of the establishment. Around the corner is a cozy upstairs place with music.
September 10th, 2010 at 2:15AM
I’ll mention that name to my kid, Polish Peter, plus the detail about the fight… She did mention, in yesterday’s phone call, that there’s a quite a bit of public drunkenness in the center of Galway.