from d.c.: bears revisited

Oh, travel. An early flight, then another, coffee before, counting the hours so that it would be time for a refill.

Airports. Did I really pick up a reservation for DC – Dulles instead of DC – National? Damn. Can I change it now? I paid 50,000 miles for this – think of it: fifty trips one way and the other, countless hours stuck between coughing, snoring passengers.

I am at National. Thank you, airline, for letting me switch.

I need to get downtown. People are in a hurry. Or, as I noted before, they wait. It is in the nature of things. Find a spot, stretch out, wait for something significant to happen. So what’s her hope?




According to the Smithsonian museum poster boards, those involved with the work of the zoo are there for a purpose and that purpose is not only to make the animal feel good while the hours pass by. It is also to understand what makes the animals tick. To know their habitat, to help them get up and running from one minute to another.

The crowd control to see the baby panda works well. Before and after, kids are snapping up a modest number of mamma bear mementos (father bear is an unspeakable ass to be staying away from the baby, as he routinely does).




Good foods, clear skies, tired me. I should have nibbled on some bamboo on my way up here.

Contentment. Easy to find, no? If you are visiting daughters, it’s a breeze. It’s all over the place.