Guiding: Big Dig & a Pub Crawl
Autumn in D.C.
The Fall guiding season eases to a close with some of the best walking weather in memory — we’ve had a string of weeks with sunny days and warm afternoons.
Arlington Cemetery has been stunning — the Fall always brings the earthy sweet smell of decay and the sound of branches and leaves rustling overhead.
Fellow guides may also wince at memories of students asking late in an Arlington tour about a loved one laid to rest there, too late to pull off a private visit for them.
One student, Brent, asked right away and we sent him off with a teacher to visit his great uncle’s grave site.
They caught up with us later and the teacher said he wanted to share his experience and so he did and he was amazing!
If there’s two types of guides — those who prefer adults and those who prefer students— count me in the latter group. Young folks bring energy and a bit of chaos which works fine for me. It’s been the usual mix of mostly eighth-graders and some older students, many from the U.K.
One recent group had three guys all in foot/ankle boots, a record so far. We plowed ahead just fine.
Veteran’s Day was spectacular — here’s an appropriate wreath at the WWII Atlantic panel highlighting June 5th and the airborne troops at Normandy.
And the end of the European war as Russians and Americans meet:
The seawalls of the 107-acre quatrefoil Tidal Basin, located in West Potomac Park and created to keep the Washington Channel from silting up, are regularly inundated by rising water levels.
A huge project is underway to rehabilitate the walls around the Basin and the adjacent river. In some places the sidewalks will be raised up to five feet.
Sections of the wall are removed and then the original stones (with new raised walls) are reset.
Pilings in place on the south side behind the existing wall.
And a mock-up of the finished work.
By the way, some chaos is good but not when a dozen urchins are tossed out of the Spy Museum for misbehavior.
The tour was billed as a “day camp” but underage pub crawl was more like it.
And the “chaperone” allowed them to get ice cream while they waited outside for the remainder of the group!
(I would have had them doing push-ups.)
Work continues at the 100-year-old Lincoln Memorial as the undercroft or lower area of the Memorial is transformed into a new museum and visitor center.
The marble steps were removed in sections to waterproof underneath them. The columns have been sheathed in plywood for protection.
This is the fifteenth year of guiding and sometimes folks ask if I am tired of it?
Never.
Cheers.
