Welcome to Knowing Where You Are..

… And How to Get Where You Are Going

For people outside of the DC area, they might not be familiar with a somewhat hidden parkway that stretches from Mclean in the North to Mt. Vernon in the South. This is the George Washington Parkway - known as the GW by nearly all locals. It's part of the national park service, and it's the only access point to see Teddy Roosevelt's memorial on Roosevelt Island. There are dozens of places to turn off and see Washington DC from across the river (nearly all of which require you to be driving north to access). And the Potomac Heritage Trail hugs one side of the parkway - with plenty of pedestrian crosswalks to further annoy the local drivers. 

If GPSs didn't exist, I doubt anyone but locals would drive the GW. Or at least any sane tourist would try to stay clear of it. 

See the GW has very few street lights, and even few signs to tell you where you are or where you're going. Road markers are pretty much non-existent. The signs that are on there, aren't well lit and are only useful if you already know where they are located - otherwise, you're doomed to miss your exit.

Basically, people should only drive the GW if they know where they are and where they are going. 

There have been dozens of times were it was pure luck that I got to my exit. There have been just as many times where I have zoomed right passed where I needed to go and been known the wiser until I hit 495 (it meets up the GW in the north and south). 

And remember how I mentioned that you'd need a GPS to navigate it. Well, that's only have true. See there are a couple of exits so bat s%!t insane, that I've made it a habit of ignoring my GPS in favor of taking one of the other "hidden" roads that circle the Pentagon to my destination. This particularly awful bit of directions happens most often when you want to go from the GW to Rout 1, but have to jump on 395 and cross 5 lanes of traffic in under a quarter of a mile to pull this off. My dad likes to curse the Penn State traffic engineers who were hired to create this monstrosity. I've learned to take the Memorial Bridge Exit (which, again, only exists if you know about it because the sign is hidden behind the bridge), hop on 101, and then hope to merge onto Rout 1 instead of ending up on 395 North.

The GPS won't tell you to do any of this. 

This analogy is relevant, I promise. 

I've thought I was at this life stage before. The one where I think I know where I am and where I might be going. However, life loves to throw me some mean curve balls and I sometimes pass an exit without known I have. I've also come up to an exit without knowing it and have had to cross four lanes of traffic, hoping against all hope that the skills I learned driving in New Jersey will get me safely off the highway.

Because life isn't exactly like a highway (no matter what Meatloaf might sign). You, me, and the guy next door whom you've maybe seen twice probably don't know where they are. We think we do, but the mile marker we were hoping for, disappeared from the side of the road. There's no GPS and the map is at least ten years out of date. 

There are very few lights on the GW. It's overgrown with trees and vines that look beautiful when it's full bloom in spring, but creepy as all get out on a foggy night in November. The roads haven't been paved in forever and there have been a couple of times I've been worried about going over the bridges. And don't forget the pedestrians. 

Anyone new to the area, should stick away from the GW unless they have a lot of time on their hands. 

However, that doesn't mean it's not a beautiful road to travel. It's a little slice of nature in an otherwise built up area. I always feel a little disconnected from the real world as I'm traversing under the thick trees. There are amazing views of Georgetown, the monuments, and the capital that seem almost unreal. 

Which again, is a lot like the many stages of life. Its intimidating, confusing, but also beautiful. 

One day, I hope the parkway is repaved where I hop on at the Chain Bridge. Right now, I keep worrying that a pot hole might finally take out one of my tires (or a bumper). Or maybe they'll build a few more pedestrian friendly bridges. I'm always worried a pedestrian will step out into the parkway crosswalk at the wrong time (like at twilight or dawn).

The George Washington Parkway is a lot of fun to drive, but caution must be taken and it's best to know what you are doing. Don't take the 395 South exit if you want to go down Route 1. Most exits are on the right hand side, unless you want to take 66 from the north, then be in the left most lane before Memorial Bridge.

And stop at one of the scenic pull offs or parks. They're worth visiting.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to the Fall of 2020

 Fall starts on Tuesday. That's the equinox. 

In my area, the weather is already cooling down and the air has that rich smoked meat and wood sent that I closely associate with home.

Last week, I was a little ticked off when I wrote my blog post. I still am. Thankfully, things are getting better in the Northwestern United States and my family is out of danger. As fire season dies down, we'll have to start preparing for 2021, though it's probably already too late for that. 

We're also at Tropical Storm Beta in the north Atlantic. It's also going to hit Louisiana - along with Texas. Teddy and Wilfred are also still hanging out in the ocean. Two more storms are likely to form. Peak hurricane season continues until mid-October.

Fall can represent the later years of a person's life. Some people might associate that with dying (they're not wrong). Trees loose their leaves. A lot of animals go into hibernation or die because it gets too cold. The days are short and the nights turn long. These patterns are eerie and foreboding.

But there's another side of fall. 

Fall is the time of the harvest. Where all the hard work of Spring and Summer pay off and there is an abundance of food to share. People want to celebrate with their communities in the Fall with festivities like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Bond fires are frequent and who doesn't love to snuggle up to someone on a cool night with a hot drink to share. 

However, to have a good harvest, the right conditions and hard work need to be done. Luck plays a part of it too. Crops can fail even for the best farmers. But even with bad weather, the community can still prosper if they plan right and are willing to make some hard choices to benefit everyone.

This harvest season hasn't started off the most positive. 

On Friday, the world lost one of the most iconic women of this age. The loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is tough. I feel both saddened and fearful for a future without her. She was one of those people who seemed invincible. 

RBG may be gone, but she won't be forgotten. She continues to inspire those who wish to take action. 

The season has only just begun and I find myself dreading it's end. A lot can happen in three short months. A lot can change. 

What we do this fall with have consequences for many more falls to come. Like a farmer who needs to prepare for the next Spring's planting, we have to be ready for what nature has in store for us. If we don't have politicians and leadership that can prepare for more violent storms and wild fires, then more people will be in harms way. If we don't address the social hurts of society, we will grow further divided. 

The harvest has begun, but it is not the time to rest. The future is within reach and our actions now will mold it for better or worse. 

I hope you, my readers are staying safe. 

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Nature's Fury

 So if you guys haven't noticed, the western coast of America is on fire. 

Right now, my family out there is relatively safe. Though one of the major evacuation routes has been cut off by the fires, air quality is beyond poor, and every picture I see looks apocalyptic. Things, of course, could be worse. There could be a major Earthquake or storm to also hit that coast and really mess things up for the people living there. 

I mean it's not like the pandemic is making things any easier. 

To add insult to injury, it has been confirmed that at least one of these fires was started because someone needed explosives to announce their child's genitalia. I honestly feel that the judge for this case needs to throw the book at them. Though it probably won't do much to help stop this stupidity.

I get that climate change and protecting the environment are touchy subjects for some people. Sure, climate change is a natural occurrence that has been recorded throughout history. However, humans are definitely not helping the situation (see my earlier note about the fire). One could argue that since humans are a part of nature that this is still a natural thing to happen to the Earth.

Heck, this isn't even really the end of the world, just everything living on it.

Am I sounding bitter or annoyed? 

That's because I am. Since the I've been around, environmentalism and taking care of the Earth have been major messages in the media. I grew up watching shows like Captain Planet and Bill Neigh the Science Guy. Movies like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer even reference the issue un-ironically. 

We're just now starting to really see the consequences of not doing enough. I mean there are four major storm systems currently hanging out in the North Atlantic with another three on deck. Oh and the west coast of the United States is on FIRE.

Wait...wasn't Australia also on fire earlier this year?

The pandemic's cause my sense of time to warp so badly, it feels like the past nine months have actually been a full decade. Yes, Australia was also on FIRE at the beginning of 2020 and might go up in flames again in 2021.

To quote one of my favorite Broadway musicals: "it ain't right and it ain't natural."*

It's great that we're teaching kids about climate change because the kids really are the ones leading the charge for change. Greta Thunberg might be the most well known climate rights activist child, but also Jamie Margolin, Mari Copeny (also known as Little Miss Flint), and Xiye Bastida (to name a very few). 

We'll listen to these kids, maybe give them a high-five for a job well done, but are the adults in the room doing anything productive?

Not really.

Because it's all about the money y'all and a lot of very wealthy people have their money tied to how things are right now. 

Again, I'm a little annoyed that there is still a debate about what to do about the environment. I mean it's not like we're facing crisis after crisis that has ties to climate change. 

Oh wait we are.

Fires, flooding, massive storms, A PANDEMIC, crop failures, murder hornets (whatever happened to that plot point anyway), and messed up seasons all have ties to environmental factors. We're seeing what happens when you ignore scientists for 50 years.

And for the people who think that God will keep the Earth as it is for another couple of millennia, I would like to point you back to the book of Genesis where it clearly states that the big guy told Adam and Eve to take care of the Earth.

But what do I know?

It's not like I've been on social media and seen pictures of a post-apocalyptic sky hanging over California, Oregon, and Washington. It's not like every couple of days another 1000 people pass away from a disease we barely understand. It's not like Louisiana isn't partially destroyed or anything with another hurricane on the way.

Also, there was an Earthquake in Jersey recently...weird right?

We only have 3 and a half more months to get through this year. Things can still get worse and the only thing we can do is prepare the best we can. Have a "go" bag ready with essential items like bottled water and a first aide kit. Make sure you have an emergency route planned out. Don't forget your pets!

2020 ain't over yet.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. 

*The musical in question is: Hadestown. I can't recommend it enough.