A few weeks ago Citrus got a pink poodle balloon at the Blessing of the Fleets ceremony. In his short life, he met SEALs and Seabees and sat in an armored Humvee. Now here he is deflated, the life drained out of him, but still very much loved.
He meets his fate tonight.
For the first time, we took a week of vacation and did not travel anywhere. It was pretty good, although you know you’re getting old when the week’s highlights involved getting a new vacuum cleaner (and being excited about getting a deal on one), looking at bathroom fixtures, and installing shelving. The house breaks first, the residents are next. So far so good.
Elysia is usually the one who tackles the home repair projects without hesitation. The Navy sends her to Norfolk when she’s 7 months pregnant and the next thing you know she’s standing on top of a cat condo with a drill. Today, however, I did a little drywall repair. If you ever want to live inside a gingerbread house, cake decorating tip #19 works well with joint compound.
Back when I created our Flat Mommy, my original idea was to create several articles of clothing that could be affixed with velcro. I figured Citrus could have fun each morning dressing Mommy in her absence like a giant paper doll.
Then I discovered how much it can cost to make a life-size poster of someone mounted on plasticor ($150++) and decided that a 6″ or 1′ version would be just as good. I think the way to go is using magnetic paper for inkjet printers, which I’ll try soon.
In the meantime, I have created an online version using javascript code borrowed from somewhere else. I find it highly amusing, but that may just be me. Which is good, because my HTML skills are very basic and it may only work on my computer.
[Click on the picture for a photo gallery.]
On Saturday, Citrus and I went to the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We had a hard time squeezing through the crowd, but ultimately found a good perch on the steps of the National Archives.
Several celebrities were in the parade, but I am now officially out of touch with today’s pop culture. As proof, I only recognized Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge. Guess what she sang?
We also saw the US and Japan Queens of the Parade, as well as the Queen of Flowering Dogwood. Target had a very good corporate float, complete with an origami version of their mascot.
It was threatening to rain, so we dashed over the the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue for the 17th Annual Blessing of the Fleets. They had equipment from the SEALs and Seabees, and Citrus was able sit in the driver’s seat of an up-armored Humvee – she promptly looked for the stick shift and radio. It is sobering to see 200-lb steel-plated doors, but Citrus brought a pink balloon doggy inside which was a nice touch. It was tempting to try to find a place to stash it.
After a speech from the Navy’s Surgeon General and a blessing from the Navy’s Chief of Chaplains, we watched the ceremonial guard pour water from the Seven Seas and the Great Lakes to “charge” the Memorial’s fountains.
Passed down through generations of sailors, fishermen, merchant mariners and navies around the world, the centuries-old “Blessing of the Fleets” ceremony is intended to safeguard fishing crews and ships from the danger of the seas through a traditional blessing given by a clergyman at the water’s edge.
Citrus held up well through her nap time and enjoyed at least three different versions of “Anchors Aweigh,” including once on bagpipes. We finished the afternoon with some Navy Bean Soup and took the Metro home.
Isn’t it just like the New York Times to get on the story about how hip Brooklyn is — about 8 years after the fact — and then almost immediately publish a column that says that if you still think Brooklyn is hip, don’t you know everyone is so over that?
It is a cute column and the author tries so hard to establish his cred, mentioning Brooklyn celebs like Spike Lee and Norman Mailer despite never having met them.
Which reminds me that I turned Norman Mailer down. Or at least his assistant. In the early ’90s while in college I put up flyers all around Brooklyn Heights offering to type resumes and term papers, as well as do transcription. Mailer’s assistant called me up and said that I could transcribe his tapes, because that was a part of his process of writing. He would not pay more than $1.50/page.
I turned it down considering that it can easily take an hour to transcribe 6 pages if the person is mumbling, and knowing that Mailer wrote his books “by the pound”. I am so cool.
Next up: How I almost ran down Susan Sarandon and her kids in my 1983 Toyota Corolla. It is riveting.
This weekend was the Smithsonian Kite Festival, one of the opening events of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This year’s theme was the art and history of Chinese kites. Two weeks ago we went to the National Air and Space Museum and watched a kite master build a dragon kite, saw some indoor flying demonstrations, and joined a horde of children making their own kites.
When I was a kid we often went to Muir Beach in Marin County (SF Bay Area) to fly a kite. I do not recall ever having a problem flying there and I guess that is because it was always freezing and windy. The biggest problem was the wind breaking the sticks and having to bring duct tape. Being an expert in kite repair in my youth, when I bought a new kite a few months ago I knew I was ready to move up to the pros.
We arrived at the National Mall on Saturday around 11am to find a couple thousand kids and their parents flying all sorts of kites. There was not much of a breeze, but every ladybug, My Little Pony, and butterfly flew well. My stunt kite did not. Twice it lurched up, did some sort of quick death spiral, and crashed down. I think we all privately realized that I should have started with a one-string kite these children are all professionals.
The answer is probably to find a large empty field for practice, and private shame, but the only ones I can think of are at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center annex and Bolling Air Force Base. Something tells me the MPs will not appreciate the idea of me taking down Marine One but I suppose I can ask (if I can fly my kite).
By next year I’ll be ready to set a single line unicorn aloft. It will be magical.
It was the first very nice day out in a while, so Citrus and I made the most of it. We headed to the National Mall to see if we could see the live butterfly exhibit at the Smithsonian, but the line wrapped around the block with tourists visiting on spring break. I am not sure how she would have responded to flying bugs anyway since a few weeks ago she was distressed when we put a small butterfly ‘tattoo’ on her arm. I am sure more than one kid has reacted by stomping on everything in site. (Maybe our little girl could be a YouTube star after all!)
We walked to the National Aquarium stopping first to go to the top of the Old Post Office Building. It is is a great way to get a good view of Washington DC without waiting in line for hours at the Washington Monument. Citrus was not particularly impressed, although she did notice the Ben and Jerry’s in the Food Court (”a cow!”).
Before lunch we spotted a high school band from Wisconsin setting up to play at the Navy Memorial. They were enjoying the 71-degree weather; apparently Wisconsin has had a record-breaking 100 inches of snow. They played a variety of songs and as we were getting closer to look at the instruments, she looked up at me and exclaimed “That’s Anchor’s Aweigh!” She is two and half years old.
In the afternoon we went to a local park in Maryland and rode the miniature train and a carousel that was built in 1910 and used to be located on the National Mall. We galloped to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”.
In my haste to hide eggs and a chocolate bunny this morning, I forgot to put out some Peeps for discovery. Probably a good thing a) because Citrus had enough sugar with the chocolate and b) I was harshly accused of eating the bunny’s face. Our food had a face, and it was tasty.
Once again the Washington Post has had brilliant entries in its annual Peeps diorama contest. 800 entries, here is a slideshow of the top finalists. Maybe we should enter next year.
Publicity stunt or oversensitivity at Customs? In any case, I suspect his entry form is entertaining.
When we were kids my brother and I always got a large Easter basket with chocolate bunnies, Peeps, and a box of Manishewitz matzos.