Get Out! And Go On A Scavenger Hunt

Peirce Mill in Rock Creek Park - National Park Service

by Peggy Robin

The "Get Out" column for this week has just one event – but it’s something that anyone can do – keeping socially distant from all others – or do it in “pods” or family members/prescreened friends. It’s fun for all ages, and it includes its own rewarding sights. And of course, it’s FREE!  

It the DC Historical Society’s Scavenger Hunt: https://bit.ly/39F2qgN   

It’s the simplest of games. Click on the link and you will get to the Scavenger Hunt game page. Fill in the name of your neighborhood and then scroll down to see a list of ten things you will set out to find. You can go out to find them in eight different walks or try to find them all in one walking adventure.  

The first thing is “Find a view of a major DC Landmark.” The landmark that’s easiest to spot from within Cleveland Park is the National Cathedral. But the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is also on the list – and if you’re in the right spot (that is, at the end of Ashley Terrace, at the top of the “secret stairs” that lead down to 30th Street, and you are looking out over the city on a clear day, the dome of the Basilica all the way over on Michigan Avenue in Northeast DC, can easily be seen from Cleveland Park.  

No more hints!  

The other nine things to find in your neighborhood are:

1. A national park.
2. The street naming pattern – and name three streets that fit the pattern.
3. An old building that was built for one use, now repurposed to be something else.
4. A historical marker, plaque, sign, or statue.
5. Two houses or buildings side by side that exemplify two different styles of architecture. (In eclectic Cleveland Park, there’s probably a street with three or four houses side by side, each in a different style.)
6. Wildlife. The Scavenger Hunt says you should find a bird, a rabbit, a squirrel, a deer, or a fox – but if you spotted a raccoon or a coyote, that would certainly count!
7. A Metro station, bus stop, or trolley stop.
8. A place where you can listen to music. It could be a concert venue, a church, a pub, or even a street corner where someone’s playing an instrument.
9. Something in the neighborhood you’ve always wondered about. When you submit your final results, you will be posting the “What is this?” entry for others to identify and explain. And you will be able to view what others have posted as their mystery place or objects, and see if you can shed light on what it is.

You can also share your results on your social media pages and tag the DC Historical Society’s  Twitter, Instagram or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dchistory

Don’t forget to wear your mask while you are out on your scavenger hunt! In some far-flung future, you can bet that one of the instructions people on scavenger hunts will receive is this: “Find a face mask from the great Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.”

This will be something that your children will one day be telling their grandchildren about…..

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The “Get Out!” column is published on the Cleveland ParkListserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.   

Get Out! Or Stay In! See the Zoo Either Way

Photo by Smithsonian National Zoo

by Peggy Robin

The Zoo is opening up tomorrow.

If you’ve been missing the animals and you are up for a masked and socially distanced visit with them, you can find all the instructions you need to arrange your outing at  https://nationalzoo.si.edu/visit/welcome-back-zoo.

Get your timed entry passes (walk-in or drive-and-park) here:

https://www.etix.com/ticket/o/6270/smithsonians-national-zoo

You might be pleased and surprised to learn that the animals have been missing you, too. Well, maybe just a few of the more social ones. Read this City Paper article to find out which ones: https://bit.ly/2ZUEP8K – but it’s no big spoiler to reveal that the cats at the zoo (of all sizes) do NOT really care if you show up or not. Still, you may be surprised to learn there are some animals that crave an audience.

However, if you think you are one of those who would be better off waiting a while longer before spending time at a place that attracts visitors from far and wide – even though everyone there will be masked and kept at a safe distance –you can still see the animals at the National Zoo….on the internet. 

Here’s an option that’s been here all along: Zoo-Cams! Click on the links below and to check in on our  camera-ready stars: (with supplementary material to liven things up, in case there's not much happening on the live-cam).

1. Giant Panda Cam. Pandas are number one in popularity at the zoo. And here’s some lively background music for you while you watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3O7lL4Us8&list=RDiogY8GqcsZw&index=2

2. Naked Mole-rat Cam. Mole-rats are a specialized taste, to my way of thinking. If you pop in on the the naked mole rat world and find there’s not much going on at the moment, you can watch this video that provides a much more action-packed view of their lives: https://bit.ly/3ht5KhU  

3. Lion Cam. As City Paper noted, the big cats have NOT missed you! Here’s a soundtrack to go with the Lion cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQlByoPdG6c

4. Elephant Cam. These marching Disney cartoon elephants might just trump the real thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQQZuLru9s)

5. Black-footed Ferret Cam. Are you a ferret fan? Do you know who isn’t? Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, that's who! If you’ve never heard his unhinged anti-ferret rant, now hear this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l7d_3rkaX4)

Of course, the trouble with cyberspace is that once you get used to seeing things in VR that can easily top what you can see IRL, you start expecting too much. You want to watch a panda do more than sleep or chew bamboo? Wish you could actually pick up one of those cheetah cubs? And wouldn't it be great if those kittens could talk! When you start thinking along those lines, that's when you get the urge to hop over to Youtube and look for talking animals. And not just parrots! How about a cat who says NO!

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMESRatAG04&t=34s

And now a whole clip-reel full of non-humans saying and doing some unexpected things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCZFmfjsQlc

And now a song to play us out from dear old Rex Harrison as Dr. Doolittle, singing, "If I Could Talk to the Animals":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOvlKgoeP4s

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The "Get Out!" or "Stay In!" column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Get Out! And Watch Comet NeoWise

Neowise over Stonehenge (NASA)

by Peggy Robin

Finally, something safe you can do outside with the family! All you need is a clear field - best to find one far away from the city lights and any trees or houses that would block the horizon. Oh, and you need a cloudless night. But you don't really need a telescope. A good pair of binoculars will be fine.

 

Up in the sky.....what is it? Is it a bird, a plane? 

 

It's Comet Neowise!

 

Watch this 2 minute and 12 second video from the Capital Weather Gang and you will be all set to catch a view of the comet about 45 minutes after sunset in the northwest sky on the next clear night:  https://wapo.st/2CtbJEn   

 

The best night could be July 22, the point at which it passes closest to earth. But you have until the end of this month to see it. You don't want to wait too long.....or you will have to wait another 6,800 years until it comes back around this way again.

 

Don't you love that mystical name NEOWISE? It's actually an acronym for "Near-Earth Objects Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer" - that's the name of the instrument that first spotted the comet.

 

Want to know more about NEOWISE? Go to the Space.com blog for some higher level space-nerd talk and technical detail: 
https://www.space.com/comet-neowise-visible-evening-sky-july-2020.html

 

Want a lower level of talk, including some of the cultural baggage surrounding comets - the superstitions, myths, and historical gossip? Comets have long been taken as heavenly heralds. Or harbingers of doom. But  the meaning of the comet all depends on which side of the battle you're on. When Halley's comet appeared in the sky before the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror, who was to defeat the Anglo-Saxon armies and be crowned King of England, took the comet as God's promise of his victory. You can see the depiction of the comet in the Bayeaux Tapestry, commissioned by William to publicize his side of the story. But for the English and their king, Harold, slain on the battlefield, that comet was most definitely a sign of BAD times.

 

You can read more about comets in history and culture at  https://www.mpg.de/research/comets-cultural-history

 

As for the portents signified by Comet Neowise now......???? 

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The "Get Out!" column (or its alternate, the "Stay In!" column) is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Stay In! And Watch Hamilton!

by Peggy Robin

It’s another “Stay In!” column. We’re still not ready for a “Get Out!” listing of events taking place IRL. So it’s yet another week of recommendations of things to do cyberspace. Today’ it's just one thing: Watch Hamilton!

It was supposed to be here at the Kennedy Center all summer long…..and you don’t need me to tell you it’s not here, and there’s still no date for the postponed show dates, either.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t watch it. You can….on the Disney Channel. It will cost you $6.99 and you will get to watch the original cast, Lin Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Philippa Soo, Jonathan Groff, et al., playing their original parts on stage. If you have a big-screen TV, well, it’s still not like watching them perform live in a theater….but for 7 bucks (as opposed to $300 or more), it’s not a bad deal.

To get Hamilton at that price, you will need to sign up for the Disney channel -- and if you're not a fan of other productions of  "The Mouse" (as embittered former Disney employees sometimes called the company), you must remember to cancel as soon as your first month is done. There's no refund for a partial month's use. Disney used to give a seven-day free trial, but that ended before Hamilton was on offer. Disney's betting on keeping a lot of the new subscribers who signed on just for Hamilton, but might stay to have access to the old classics like Dumbo and Pinocchio, and other treasures in the Disney trove. 

There's more about Hamilton on the Disney Channel, including a preview and a spoiler-laden review at CNET.com: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/disney-plus-review/

The CNET article includes a link to sign up, or you can go directly to Disney Plus and click on "sign up": www.disneyplus.com

You don't wanna miss your shot!
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The Stay In! column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and All Life Is Local on Thursdays. 

Get Out! ....On Second Thought, Stay In! For the Fourth of July

Wikimedia Creative Commons

by Peggy Robin

Normally, my "Get Out!" column on the Thursday before the Fourth of July would spell out the holiday details for you, giving helpful tips about attendance at the festivities on the National Mall – you know, Metro schedule changes, street closings, parade times, entry checkpoint locations, and more.

This time, you’re on your own. These are NOT normal times, and instead of saying “Get out and enjoy the fireworks," I’m saying, "Better to be safe and stay home." It doesn't matter how protective your mask is -- you'll still be at increased risk as you pass through one of a few narrow checkpoints, where thousands of other people –any one of whom could be a "super-spreader"– will have passed through before you. 

Once you are inside the secure area, you may lay down your picnic blanket and stake out a buffer zone well over six feet away from any other visitor group – but how will you maintain it? There are bound to be troupes of teenagers, or college kids, or beer buddies, or any number of other odd collections of humanity, who will pass your way, carelessly invading your safety perimeter. And you can bet they will be wearing their masks down around their chins -- that's if they haven't removed them entirely. Be prepared to yell at them....although that will most likely result in people yelling right back at you -- and yelling, as we know, is a prime way that airborne droplets can fly the farthest. 

Why expose yourself? You are not going to have a good time.

Now, I have always loved a well-choreographed fireworks display, and I know that the TV screen can't capture the sensations of being there on the ground -- but this year you have got to contemplate much more than a half an hour of splendor while the night sky is lit up with cascades of colorful sparks -- waterfalls, haloes and starbursts. This year the experience you need to contemplate at length is what it would feel like to be hooked up to a ventilator -- and that would be something lasting far longer than that half-hour of fireworks you enjoyed. Not a worthwhile trade-off for anyone, to my mind. 

Still, if you are bound and determined not to miss the annual event, let me send you to this article in Washingtonian, which will tell you what you need to know to attend:

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/07/01/finally-some-more-details-about-dcs-fourth-of-july/. Once you've read that, you might also want to read this piece in DCist about the show, which includes some sage advice from Mayor Bowser, urging DC residents to stay home:  https://dcist.com/story/20/06/25/july-4-dc-fireworks-bowser-stay-home-coronavirus/

Oh, and just one more thing about this year's holiday, that needs to be noted. Even if you do stay home, you are bound to experience all the noise of a live fireworks display – and it will doubtless go on for hours. That’s because – for reasons I can’t begin to fathom – lots of kids and maybe even some adults, have been setting off fireworks, doing it every night, for the past several weeks. On the fourth of July, they’re bound to be out in larger numbers than ever, in every neighborhood of the city, and the bangs and pops may go on till dawn. The Washington Post reported on this problem – see  https://wapo.st/2ZyqRIe –  but it's not just here  in DC; in every major city, people are setting off fireworks, night after night, with no sign of stopping (see https://bit.ly/2BnEUZl). 

Here's hoping that the official fireworks holiday on the Fourth will serve as the grande finale of all this ear-shattering uproar. But given the way that things are trending these days, I have to tell you, I am not optimistic.

Even so, I wish you and yours a safe, healthy, and if at all possible, peaceful Fourth of July.

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The Get Out!/Stay In! column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.  

Get Out! The Cleveland Park Listserv Events Column Is BACK (Well, Sort of....)

Cathedral Grounds

by Peggy Robin

Two weeks ago,  I said that the "Get Out!" events column would return to its usual Thursday time slot whenever there were ten in-person events taking place in Cleveland Park or in a relatively close-by neighborhood -- OR whenever the DC Public Library system started taking its events out of cyberspace and moving them back indoors, using any of the the library’s many public meeting rooms. (The events column was populated in a typical week by at least 50% public library-hosted events.)

We haven’t reached either of those benchmarks – but just like many an antsy, impatient, cabin-fevered shut-in, I’ve decided to jump the gun and rush out with what’s available now. Here we go:

Adams Morgan will turn 18th Street into outdoor pedestrian plaza this weekend (pilot program).  AdMoDC.org has announced the following:

18th Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from Columbia Road to Kalorama Road on the following days:

• Friday, June 26: 3pm – Midnight
• Saturday, June 27: 8am – Midnight
• Sunday, June 28: 8am – Midnight

There will be a 20-foot pedestrian pathway down the center of the street that will also serve as emergency access. Businesses will be allowed to expand their operations (restaurant table service and retail sales) into the roadway directly in front of their businesses using the distancing guidelines published by DC Health. They will also be able to utilize sidewalk space in front of adjacent properties with written permission from that property owner or business owner.
[Parking and drop-off/pickup details follow.]

Businesses should plan to have some sort of rope, planter, or other means to separate their extended patio area from their neighbors’. Businesses are responsible for providing tables, chairs, and other fixtures and securing them when not in use in such a way that they can’t be utilized by pedestrians. Furniture should be brought in or secured one hour before the end of the closure.

National Cathedral Grounds, Gardens, Walking Paths. Read about walkable outdoor areas here:  https://cathedral.org/gardens/ You will need to be careful, as some walking paths (the Bishop’s Garden, for example) are very narrow and you may need to wait for a while at a safe distance to let others pass.

Christian Heurich House and Museum – their garden will soon be open to the public - reservations required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-castle-garden-is-back-tickets-111031861286 
The Heurich House Museum’s historic Castle Garden is opening on Tuesday, June 30th, in a new, socially distant format. [The museum itself still remains closed for now.] Visitors can reserve a garden “pod” to enjoy the summer weather, hang out with friends, or use our free WiFi to get some work done. The garden will be open by reservation only every Tuesday through Thursday from 11am to 5pm. A pod is a specific area of mowed lawn in the garden designated for your group only - we have measured them out so they are at least 6 feet from other pods and the common walkway. Some pods contain shade and some are in full sun. Size varies, with some pods accommodating up to 4 visitors, while others are large enough for 6 (refer to pod map below). Although some pods may include a bench, we encourage visitors to bring a blanket or lawn chair. Reservations are available in 2 shifts: 11am-2pm and 2pm-5pm. Guests are welcome to reserve multiple shifts. Outside food and beverage is allowed, but please clean up after yourself. (Food in, food out!) *NO BATHROOMS AVAILABLE* Reservations are free. Online reservations only.

Dumbarton House House Museum is reopening! We will be open to museum and NSCDA members only July 1 and July 2. We will be closed July 3-5 for the holiday weekend and open fully to the public on July 7! Timed tickets and masks will be required. Visit our admissions page for full details. We will be open to museum and NSCDA members only on July 1 and July 2. We will be closed July 3-5 for the holiday weekend and open fully to the public starting July 7!

OK, this last one is not exactly close to Cleveland Park....but I'm getting a bit desperate here! And it's well worth the drive....to the Glenstone Art Museum and Sculpture Garden - now operating as an outdoor-only experience – scheduled visits only. Limited capacity on visitor days (Thursday-Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.). Please review our updated guidelines to prepare for your visit.

Please note: all visitors must be 12 or older and all minors (ages 12-17) must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Tickets are released at 10 a.m. every Monday in two-week increments.Read all you need to know at: https://www.glenstone.org/.

Next week.....? Is it possible that there will be a few of what the Get Out! column used to have -- festivals and bazaars and all that jazz? Or is it still a distant dream?
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The Get Out! events column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.  

Stay In! Waiting for the Return of the "Get Out!" Events Column

by Peggy Robin

Now that DC is slowly opening up again, the question on the table is "When will the 'Get Out!' events column return?

Short answer: Not yet. Too soon.

Long answer: When the number of IRL events taking place in Cleveland Park or any of the adjacent neighborhoods is greater than ten.

Alternate answer (and probably a more accurate indicator): Whenever the DC Public Library system begins to host events, not online, but real, indoor events at the Cleveland Park Branch, the Tenley Branch, and/or the Chevy Chase Branch. I will be periodically checking in with the DCPL's calendar of events at https://www.dclibrary.org/calendar to see when the word "virtual" no longer appears in front of each calendar entry. When in-person meetings are again a reality, the "Get Out" column will again appear in this space.

If  the open-for-business public library building becomes the standard, then it will function as our "Waffle House Index" for the state of the pandemic. You may recall the formulation by the former head of FEMA, Craig Fugate, who once judged the severity of a tornado according to this trenchant observation: "If you get there and the Waffle House is closed -- that's really bad."  See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index for the full explication of the term "Waffle House Index.")

While we are on the subject of DCPL, I'd like to pay (overdue) tribute to all the librarians and staff workers who have been holding down the fort during the pandemic. While unable to host any of the myriad of book groups, lectures, workshops, film screenings, help sessions, and so much more that went on inside library meeting rooms, they have done an incredible job of moving events into the virtual world, keeping the information flowing freely.

When IRL meetings become possible again, I'm looking forward to a return to the high level of public events -- always free and open to all -- that had existed BC (Before Coronovirus). And when you are at last able to go back inside your local public library, you will find they have done away with library fines, too!

Not sure when that will be, but the "Get Out!" events column will be back that week, and will begin with a big Hurrah! So stay tuned to this space....
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The "Stay In" column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Stay In! Happy 100th Birthday to Arthur Rowse

by Peggy Robin 

One of these days, the "Stay In!" column will go back to its previous life as the "Get Out!" events column. Until that time, I'm highlighting events that can be celebrated without a real-life gathering -- and in this case, I've chosen one that occurred about a month ago, on April 30th. I may be a few weeks behind (well, who hasn't felt time is out of joint, under the present circumstances?), but I'm still happy to take this opportunity to say Happy 100th birthday, Arthur Rowse!

The Centenarian in question is a former Cleveland Parker and current resident of Chevy Chase, MD, who is not only a distinguished journalist, author, and World War II veteran, but he is the father of Mary Rowse, the founder/showrunner of the Chevy Chase Community Listserv, https://groups.io/g/ChevyChaseCommunity.

I would write more about Arthur Rowse and his illustrious life – but I’d much rather let him do that in his own words. On May 23, 2020, Arthur Rowse published this op-ed piece in the New York Times, and after you read it, I am sure you will join me sending him congratulations on this milestone event.

It’s My 100th Birthday. It’s Been Quite a Century.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/opinion/coronavirus-100-years-old.html?searchResultPosition=1

[go to https://nyti.ms/2TPhYrE if the long link above is broken].
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"Stay In!" is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays. 

Stay In! Unsubscribe-O-Rama

by Peggy Robin

People ask me how I’m spending my free time during the coronavirus lockdown. I will tell you: what little free time I have is taken up with the task of un-subscribing from all the email blasts I never signed up to receive. This activity feels like it’s become a new part-time job. You know I’m spending all day on my computer anyway, now that the listserv is running at double-time, due to the coronoavirus pandemic, but on top of the daily torrent of listserv submissions, there’s a daily deluge of messages urgently seeking my support for everyone everywhere in need.

Let me be clear: I’m not talking about spam. I’m talking about worthy, often wonderful organizations that I wholeheartedly support. These are organizations that are feeding people after hurricanes, and are doing so here and now, for people who’ve lost their jobs due to coronavirus. They’re working for political equality, or trying to free reporters locked up abroad, or they want to end voter suppression or reverse the injustices of mass incarceration. Dear Peggy, they write, we need your help at this moment in history. You see, they're all on a first name basis with me – especially the political candidates. And they think I’m on a first name basis with them. But I’m feeling less and less friendly, given all the extra time they're making me spend each day, going delete, delete, delete.

Now I admit, I gave these organizations and candidates my email address voluntarily, usually when I contributed a bit of money. So I can’t say that I never wanted them to contact me. Just not every single day of the year. And some of them do it two or three times a day, every day. And when I get up in the morning, I see more's come in overnight. They never sleep.

When I realize I’m spending too much time per day deleting the same email from the same organization, that’s when finally hit the unsubscribe link. You might think this would take all of five seconds. But no. You have to scroll down, down, down, to the very end of the long pitch letter, and then find the teeny-tiny type that says “unsubscribe.” You click it, but you’re still not done. You may need to figure out which of your several email addresses is the one they’ve got you under, and confirm that’s the one you want taken off their list.  Before they let you go, they may badger you to answer some questions, tell them why you want out. 

The really insidious trick is to offer to send you less email. I’ve fallen for that one any number of times. They say they’ll cut way back, and I believe them, and so I don’t quit entirely. Then, for the next few days, maybe even a few weeks, the flood goes down to a trickle. Maybe just one a week. That’s OK, I can live with that. But it never stays that way. I put it out of my mind for a time, and so I don’t notice that it's slowly, slowly creeping back up again. The day comes around when I’m deleted a bunch of emails, and I think to myself, haven’t I unsubscribed from this list already? Or maybe I asked them to cut back? I can't remember, and I'm not keeping records to check. That would be even more time-consuming than going through the unsubscribe process again. So I find myself clicking the unsubscribe link again, for the same organization.

On top of all this, unsubscribing doesn’t always work. A lot of the time, the email just keeps coming. without a break. Or maybe they do unsubscribe me for a short time, and then they buy the maling list from a similar organization, and there's my email address again. 

I already know what advice I will get from my wise readers out there. Don’t give them your real email address, you goose! Use a disposable email address -- get yourself a whole slew of them that you can create on the fly, each time you donate to an organization or support a candidate. Yes, I’ve heard that advice many times. But the thing is, when I first give to the organization, I do want to hear from them. I want an acknowledgement that they’ve received my donation. I need a tax receipt for the IRS. I do want to know what they’re up to and learn if they are making a difference. So I don’t want to be totally out of the loop. I just don’t want to be so in the loop that my inbox is overflowing, and I'm left feeling that I’ve been thrown for a loop.

Is there a happy medium? I haven’t found it yet, but if anyone out there has got a working solution that doesn’t involve any of the following: a) disposable email addresses; b) never giving any money to any charities, cause organizations or candidates for office; or c) going off to live in a cave somewhere far off the grid – by all means email me. I won't delete your message!

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The Stay In! column is published on the Cleveland ParkListserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Stay In! Happy Friday….or wait, is it Thursday?

by Peggy Robin  

If you’re working from home, or you’ve been laid off, or you have rearranged your life to fit the shelter-in-place new world, it’s easy to lose the distinction between the weekend and the regular old Monday-to-Friday drill. But when you start losing track of the days of the work week, then you know you’re in trouble….a sensation that’s been perfectly summed up by a current internet meme:

https://www.facebook.com/rosalind.shields.14/videos/10158324320689458/

The fuzziness of the days is not helped by reading the virtual Washington Post either. It’s the version that pops up on your computer, as opposed to the one that lands with a thud on your doorstep – or maybe in your bushes --wrapped up in an bright orange or dull gray plastic wrapper. Prime example of a WaPo time-slide was the recent story about how apartment dwellers are dealing with the news that someone in their building has tested positive for coronavirus. If you take your Post online, it was Monday, April 20 when you read about it. But if you get your WaPo in the form of black, smearable ink on newsprint, then you didn’t know a thing about it until you unfolded the paper on the morning of Wednesday, April 22, and saw the story on the front page. (I like using this article as my example, because it happens to be about a topic that was first discussed on the Cleveland Park Listserv way back on March 28 – and the Listserv was featured prominently as a source of some of the arguments described in the article.)  

If you’re confused by the strange flow of days, how are your children handling it? Do they miss their formerly timed-to-the-minute schedules? The lives of Cleveland Park children have long been reputed to be planned out like precision drills, each day packed with lessons, enrichment programs, sports practices, music lessons, play rehearsals, chess club, not to mention running up new records at Minecraft, while translating Japanese haiku in Latin, as they’re shuttled between activities in giant SUVs. Now that they’re no longer out of the house for seven to ten hours of the school day, how are they spending all that unruly, free-form time? Are they learning to flow with the circadian rhythms of nature? Or are they just getting squirrelly? Or do you wonder how this bizarre episode in history has filtered into their subconscious and will drive them in unknown ways for the rest of their lives?

 

You may not find out until one day, far into the future, your child writes what turns out the be the great American novel of Coronavirus era.

In the meantime, speaking of children and literature, here’s a repurposed children’s classic to produce a rueful smile of the day (which, by the way, is still Thursday):

“Alexander and the Day That Blended Into Every Other Day Like Some Kafkaesque Nightmare with No Merciful End In Sight”

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The “Stay In” column (formerly known as the “Get Out!” events column) is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays. Or is it Fridays?   

Stay in: Avoid the Zoom of Gloom

by Peggy Robin

The “Stay In” (formerly known as “Get Out!”) column resumes with more tips for reaching out to others without the in-person touch we all knew and loved.

Instead, we must ZOOM. That’s the most popular way we’re meeting each other face-to-face these days – or face-to-faces, up to the number of people accepting invitations for a scheduled meeting in cyberspace.

Before you greet each other, you must each spend your first five or ten minutes establishing your connection, which means you let others will see you mouthing the words, “Can you hear me?” into the camera, while your own screen will show the others mouthing those same words back at you.

Once you all have figured out how to turn the audio on, you can spend another five or ten minutes yelling at each other to adjust your camera position, or adjust your heads, so that you can see more than George’s bald spot and view more than the left side of Norma’s face at the edge of the screen, or get Rudolf to stop showing you an extreme closeup of his red, red nose. Once you can see everyone and they can see you, then there’s one more round of sound checks from people who have suddenly lost the audio, or moved too far away from the microphone when backing up to stop giving you that extreme closeup of their nasal passages.

Is there any way to avoid this scenario? Maybe not entirely, but there are measures that everyone can take to make the Zoom time a little less gloomy. You – and everyone in your Zooming circle of friends – can help make things run faster and better if you will all just do your bit to prepare for the meeting. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Check your appearance. Before you even sit down in front of the computer, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Is your hair combed? Check. Is there anything stuck between your teeth? Fix that now! Are you dressed decently? And  NOT just from the waist up! Why (you may ask), when no one’s going to see anything below the belt? HAH! You are NOT thinking ahead. You think you live in a world without hot coffee spills, or a cat that can brush by the lid of the laptop and suddenly change the camera view? Just about any flukey thing with a  thousand-to-one odds against its occurrence that could embarrass you on camera has already happened to someone else, someone who never thought through the possibilities. And consider this: Once you’ve been captured on Zoom leaping up from your chair and running out of the room half-naked, remember, there’s likely someone who’s captured that image and is ready to send it straight to YouTube, where it will forever live in infamy. YOUR infamy, that is.

2. Decide what screen view you prefer. You can choose to see all the participants (“gallery view”) or view the active speaker on full screen, or create
a customized view that will arrange the talking heads to your own satisfaction. Learn what your screen view option are here:  https://bit.ly/2XGus7P -- and how to change them. For other helpful tutorials in Zoom, go to: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials. Zoom videos are short (most are no more than a minute or two) and to the point. I particularly 
found the “Start a test meeting” exercise to be 
most helpful: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002262083-Joining-a-test-meeting

3.  Prepare your instruments ahead of time. Open up Zoom BEFORE the designated appointment time. Do the audio check. Next, test your video. Adjust your screen view. Let your fellow meeting participants know in advance that they’re supposed to make their own preparations ahead of time, too. If you are the person in charge of the meeting, you can send out gentle reminders well before the meeting starts. But don’t get overly optimistic. There’s bound to be one or two who’ll claim they never got the memo. Or if they got it, they never read it. Or if they read it, they didn’t understand the instructions. So, in all likelihood, you will still need to waste some time at the start of the meeting as they fiddle with the audio and adjust their screen views. But at least it won’t be on you!

4. Don’t eat or drink during your Zoom meeting. See above for the hot coffee spill scenario. What about a glass of water? By all means, stay hydrated – BEFORE the meeting. Bring your glass of water into your Zoom meeting only if you are wearing a wet suit and your computer is secure inside an Otterbox® case.

5. Consider what’s in the background. If it’s a bookcase, remember, people WILL read the titles on the spines and comment on your taste in literature. Better take down that framed, autographed, 1990 Baywatch poster from the wall behind you! Remove anything visible you’d rather not be judged for owning. Or you can use the “Virtual Background” feature in Zoom to make it look like you live in a 18th Century salon in a chateau on the Loire. Or you’re Zooming in from the deck of your villa on a Caribbean island. Go to: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-Background for instructions on how to rid yourself of the real-life clutter behind you and replace it with the most sumptuous setting you can download for free. Or better still, make it appear as if you are living in squalor and clearly need a raise.

6. Think about your privacy. You’ve probably read that Zoom has some troublesome security flaws. If you not up on that, you can read about it in the Washington Post:  Zoom meetings have been hacked, and in some cases the intruders have insulted or even terrorized the participants. Now, that’s not about to happen to you unless you are already a person with some serious enemies. The armies of trolls out there aren’t interested in breaking up your online bridge game. Nor is anyone going to hack into your book club's discussion of “Sense and Sensibility.” Or steal your Snickerdoodle recipe just as you are revealing what secret spice you knead into the cookie dough. Still, you are wise not to do or say anything over Zoom that might be considered confidential or easily misconstrued, if made public. You’re on Zoom – and by definition you’re on the internet. So smile for the camera and posterity. And save your innermost thoughts for the diary you keep locked and hidden away under the mattress.

To finish out this column, I was planning to include links to some of the funniest Zoom “fails” – those weird and awkward things people have been caught doing on Zoom. You know -- stuff like, the toddler who wanders into the room, proudly shouting, “Mommy, I made the biggest poopie in the potty!” Or the husband, wrapped only in a towel, dashing down the hallway to the bathroom. But in every compilation of “Zoom Fails” I looked at, there was always at least one scene that was too humiliating or too gross to be funny. More things cringe-worthy than cute. And we have more than enough to groan about as it is.

To remove the gloom from our Zoom, try a symphony instead -- the "Ode to Joy" from the socially distant Bamburger Symphony -- or better still, a choir singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow. But if I could, I would tweak one of the lyrics just a bit: One day I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the Covid’s far behind me….”

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The ”Stay In” non-events column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.   

Stay In! (Formerly the "Get Out" Column): Be Your Own Tech Guru

Photo by Sebastian Ahl (Wikimedia Commons)

by Peggy Robin

The weekly “Get Out” column is back to its quarantined incarnation as the “Stay In” column….and since we’re all utterly dependent on our computers and other internet-enabled devices to keep in touch with one another while maintaining social distance, the point of this column is to show you how to become your own tech consultant and keep your communications humming along throughout the emergency.

Here's the very first skill you need to master. As soon as you notice anything amiss with your computer, you need to learn to say to yourself, in a highly exasperated tone, while simultaneously rolling your eyes, “Have you rebooted yet?” You can do that, right? Great, now you sound exactly like your company’s smirking little IT guy – you know, that kid who comes around to check your computer at the office, who looks to be all of 15.

Actually, I have a couple of practical tips for things you can do even before you remember to try a reboot. First of all, check all the connections to ports, hubs, and plugs. Cables and wires do get dislodged and that can be the simplest explanation for something not working. A quick crawl under a dusty desk to push in a loose plug may be the only technical fix you need. Second, if you’ve been running your laptop on battery power, try it with the power cord. You may think that can't possibly be the problem because you never saw a “low-batt” warning – but maybe you just overlooked it, or it could be there there was something going on with the program that you were using that prevented the low-batt warning from showing up. Anyway, don’t worry about it; just let your device recharge for a while. It never hurts to try. 

OK, so it’s not a low-batt problem, and everything’s plugged in properly, and you’ve rebooted and that didn’t help. Your next step is the old JFGI. (This is a family column so I will translate that to "Just Flaming Google It"). You can type in normal sentence format whatever's gone wrong -- e.g., my mouse pointer has disappeared -- and at the speed of whizzing electrons Google’s search engine will go over all the millions of times people have typed in this same problem and others have answered it, displaying the thousands of  results in order of most to least relevant. Some of the best answers will include links to YouTube videos that show you the screenshots of what you will see as you go step-by-step to fix the problem.

Still need help? Next, try the free tech support available from the company that makes the device or program on the fritz. (Careful now! You want to make sure you are contacting the legitimate tech support site, not a fake look-alike site. Use only the contact information you were provided for the company at time of purchase or when you registered the device. Never click on a toll-free number or anyplace advertised on the web as a free computer help site, as the odds are very high it's run by scammers and malware-makers.) Don't worry that your device may be long out of warranty. At many companies, the service reps will do their best to help an old, loyal customer, years after the original sale. I've called Epson about an eight year old printer that had become fuzzy, and they walked me through a more advanced print-head+nozzle-cleaning process than the one described in the manual. And it worked!  

Now if you're still stuck with your balky computer or mobile device, even after 20 minutes on the phone with a company rep, and after watching YouTube how-to videos out the wazoo, and you've tried all the other DIY steps I've mentioned, OK, go ahead and pay someone to rescue you. Who you gonna call? That's where the Cleveland Park Listserv comes in. The archives are a storehouse of recommendations of tech gurus (among other types of helpers) that your neighbors have used and will vouch for. Don't know how to search? You can find instructions here: http://www.cleveland-park.com/searching-the-archives.html.Worried about a house call in the present emergency? Most computer help can be done remotely, through use of a program that allow the tech guru to see exactly what you see on your computer screen, and get into the works to diagnose the problem and fix it. And neither of you has to leave the comfort and safety of home. Bonus: with this kind of remote control help, you will never have to see the tech guru rolling their eyes at you!

Needless to say, I hope it doesn't come to that. I wish you  and your computer the best of health -- and may you both be free of viruses! 

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The "Stay In" column is published on the Cleveland ParkListserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.   

Stay In! The (Non) Events Column, March 26 - April 2, 2020

by Peggy Robin

It's another week of not going out -- but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy Springtime. If you've got a garden, get out there and dig. Weed, water, fertilize, and you will be mightily rewarded.

If you don't have a garden -- do you have a windowsill that gets good light? You can grow so many things indoors that will surprise and delight -- and this is true even for those with the brownest of brown thumbs (me!).

Oh, I've killed my share of plants, both outdoors and indoors, over the years, I must admit, but there's long been just one thing that lives on, despite my poor maintenance skills. It's a small potted cactus that's been in my kitchen windowsill since 1997, and it's the hardiest thing imaginable. While all else is withering, that cactus keeps growing and growing. I've had to re-pot it twice to bigger pots. It even blooms periodically!

If this activity appeals to you, it may be hard to find an open garden store near you, but you can find cactus plants for sale at hardware stores or at big box stores like Target and Walmart. Or you can order them off the internet. Here's just one example of what you can get for less than six bucks:  https://succulentsbox.com/products/angel-wing-microdasys

As for the techniques needed to start and maintain different types of plants in the garden or in a windowsill -- I won't get started with recommendations for this or that website or YouTube instructional video. Far too many out there! My advice is just to ask The Great, Wise, and Infinite Google to help you find the specific planting/growing advice you seek (as in this example: "Grow basil in a windowsill"). Just don't spend all day watching the videos, or you may never actually get going on your plan to start to grow something in real life

Not sure what type of gardening would work best for you while you shelter in place? Here's a key question that you might want to consider in light of the current crisis:

Would you rather have something beautiful to admire or something good to eat? If  your answer is food, then try growing fresh herbs. That combines two productive uses of your time -- gardening and cooking in one shot.

If you answered beauty, here's something to consider when choosing a flowering plant: You can get fragrance along with a colorful display. And that can be a predictor of illness during the coronavirus crisis, which has as one of its early sign the loss of the sense of smell. You can grow fragrant flowers in pots indoors and grow them outdoors and take in some cuttings to keep in a vase. That way, not only will your house have a fresh, floral scent but you can give the flowers a sniff a few times a day to check out your state of health. More fun than a thermometer in your ear!

Here's a fun little internet quiz to find out what type of gardening best suits your personality:
https://www.quizony.com/what-type-of-garden-should-you-grow/ (in terms of scientific accuracy, it's about on the same level as "Which Disney princess are you?) And if your answer turns out to be, gardening of any kind is not for me, don't worry -- the Stay In (formerly the Get Out! events column) will be back at this time next week with another non-event-based recommendation.
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The Stay In! Non-Events Column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Get Out! The Events Column, March 13 - 19, 2020

Shamrocks - National Library of Ireland

We wanted to share some events and activities that list members might be interested in. Have a great weekend -- and week beyond, too. If you know of an event that the 14,700+ members of the Cleveland Park Listserv should know about, email us at events @ fastmail dot net.

Peggy Robin and Bill Adler

Publishers, Cleveland Park Listserv

www.cleveland-park.com    

NOTE! Due to the coronavirus emergency, any of the following events could be cancelled between now and the announced date. Be sure to check the website or use the contact information to find out whether the event is still on before you go!  

Friday, March 13 from  9:30 AM - 5:30 PM, Explore a Future Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Exhibit. The DC Public Library is modernizing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The modernization includes a new exhibit space highlighting DC stories. An interactive mini exhibit will be on display inside the West End Neighborhood Library. You are invited to come and explore the exhibit. Exhibit designers will love to hear what you think. Free. At the West End Library, 2301 L St. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66734 

Friday, March 13, all day, This Friday the 13th everyone has reason to fear bad luck! So today, just for one day, give in to your worst fears and stay in bed all day! Pull the covers up over your head. Maybe if you sleep for 24 hours straight, when you wake up on the morning of the 14th, the past 3 weeks will all have been a bad dream. Or maybe it’s just the Weekly Fake Event (‘fraid so, folks!)

Saturday March 14 at 2 PM, Pi Day Pendant Decoration Drop-In at Fab Test Lab. Pi Day is 3.14. Stop by the Fab Test Lab between 2 and 3 PM to decorate a laser-cut Pi Day pendant or keychain. This craft is for kids, teens, and adults, but please note that children younger than 6 are not permitted in the Fab Test Lab. Space is limited, so please register at http://bit.ly/labsclasses to reserve your spot.(If the class isn't showing up in the calendar at the link, registration is full - but please check back for cancellations and future classes. Please note that late arrivals may lose their spot in the class. No safety orientation is required for this class, but you're encouraged to sign up for one so that you can explore the other classes and technology the Labs offer. Fab Lab is at 2000 14th St NW. More info: https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66566 

Saturday, March 14 at 2:30 PM, Author Talk: I Am More Than My Hair: My Outward Appearance Does Not Define Me, by Alyscia Cunningham. From the time we are young, girls are pressured into a set belief of beauty standards. Hair is certainly high on the list and is often labeled as our "crown and glory." Where does this notion fit for a girl with alopecia (baldness; the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows)? This new coffee table book should bring light to the issue. I Am More Than My Hair: My Outward Appearance Does Not Define Me, is a two-part project: documentary film and coffee table book. The book features 138 portraits of 46 women and the stories of their experience with hair loss, as well as women who cut their hair in solidarity with a loved one. 10% of sale proceeds will be donated to Children's Alopecia Project (CAP). CAP changes the emphasis from growing hair to growing confidence. Free. At the West End Library, 2301 L St. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66678 

Sunday, March 15 - The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Constitution Avenue (the 50th anniversary parade!) has been POSTPONED. The website http://dcstpatsparade.com/ will have the information later in the spring, when the new date has been determined.

Sunday, March 15 at 2 PM, Jazz in the Basement: Steve Arnold and Friends. Bassist Steve Arnold, saxophonist Sarah Hughes, and drummer Kelton Norris will perform an afternoon of jazz at the library as part of the Jazz in the Basement series. Jazz in the Basement is a concert series featuring local artists, coordinated with the assistance of volunteers Bertrand Uberall and John Cook. The concerts are intended to highlight young artists, new composers, or unique jazz sounds to broaden the listening landscape of our Washington, DC audiences. Free. At Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Library, 1630 7th St. NW. More info on the musicians and the series: https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66645 

Monday, March 16 at 12 noon, Lecture: Hidden History in Foggy Bottom’s Alleys, presented by Carolyn Crouch, founder, Washington Walks. Expert Washington tour guide Carolyn Crouch shares the unique history of the museum's own neighborhood, Foggy Bottom, and its many secrets and untold histories. Free, no registration needed. The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 701 21 Street, NW. More info: https://museum.gwu.edu/hidden-history 

Tuesday, March 17 at 10:15 and 11:30 AM, St. Paddy’s Day with Pete Moss and the Bog Band. Join Pete (aka Mitch Fanning) and his troupe of talented young musicians of Fábulas Fairy Tales as they pick up their fiddles and bodhran drums to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. Spirited music, lively step dancing, and a dash of Irish musical history guarantee “a rattlin’ good time!” At Discovery Theater, Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive SW on the National Mall. For ages 5 to 12 (K to Grade 6). Individual Tickets: (School Year/ Summer Season) Child: $6/ $7; Child under 2: $3; Adult: $8/ $9; Smithsonian Associate Members: $5/ $6. For advance tickets and more pricing options, visit: DiscoveryTheaterStPaddys   

Tuesday, March 17 at 6 PM, Profs and Pints presents: “Ireland and the American Revolution,” with Sam Fisher, assistant professor of history at the Catholic University of America. What impact did the American Revolution have on Ireland? And what role did Ireland and Irish people play in the American Revolution? Come celebrate St. Patrick's Day by hearing a discussion of the many connections between Ireland and America in the Revolutionary War era. Professor Fisher, an expert on eighteenth-century Ireland, Scotland, and America will discuss the influence earlier Irish patriots had on the constitutional thought of the American patriots, and talk about the shared commitment of the American revolutionaries and Irish patriots to resisting British control. You’ll learn why those Irish patriots were Protestant colonists and not—as you might suspect—Irish Catholics, who were more likely to support the monarchy. Purchasing advance tickets is encouraged as these events often sell out - go to: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4521953 Advance: $12 ($13.59 with service fee); $12. More info: https://www.battlefields.org/events/profs-pints-ireland-and-american-revolution or call (202) 293-1887.     

Tuesday, March 17  from 6:30 - 7:30 PM, Twilight Tuesdays: Irish Step Dancing at Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Irish Step Dancing by the Shannon Dunne Dance Company. This program is part of the museum’s new Twilight Tuesdays series of drop-in programs. The museum is open until 8 PM every Tuesday. The free performance will be outside on the museum's garden plaza. There will be holiday themed refreshments. Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum is at 1901 Fort Place SE. More info: Twilight Tuesdays: Irish Step Dancing Tickets      

Wednesday, March 18 at 7 PM, Book Hill Talks - Mesoamerican Landscapes: Ideologies and Practice. Rebecca Friedel, Plants Humanities Fellow, Dumbarton Oaks and PhD candidate, University of Texas at San Antonio, will discuss her research on the history of ancient Mayan uses of plant communities in what is now Belize. Free. At Georgetown Library, 3260 R St. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66562 

Thursday March 19 at 6 PM, Movie Night at West End: Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed.  Recalling a watershed event in US politics, this Peabody Award-winning documentary takes an in-depth look at the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination for the highest office in the land. Shunned by the political establishment and the media, this longtime champion of marginalized Americans asked for support from people of color, women, gays and young people newly empowered to vote at the age of 18. Chisholm's bid for an equal place on the presidential dais generated strong, even racist opposition. Yet her challenge to the status quo and her message about exercising the right to vote struck many as progressive and positive. Free. At the West End Library, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66423

Get Out! The Events Column for March 6 - 12, 2020

March 8 is International Women's Day
[public domain]

We wanted to share some events and activities that list members might be interested in. Have a great weekend -- and week beyond, too. If you know of an event that the 14,600+ members of the Cleveland Park Listserv should know about, email us at events @ fastmail dot net.

Peggy Robin and Bill Adler
Publishers, Cleveland Park Listserv
www.cleveland-park.com   

Friday, March 6 at 6 PM, Congresswoman Norton's Queer Women in Leadership Panel. In honor of women’s history month, Congresswoman Norton will host a panel celebrating the accomplishments of queer women in Washington, DC. Free. At the Adams Morgan Community Center, 1770 Euclid Street NW. All are welcome!

Saturday, March 7 at 3 PM, Prepare Your Home for Spring and Summer. Steve Ortado, professional woodworker and home maintenance expert, will get us motivated to prepare for the next season. Steve will help participants decide what they can do themselves or what they should ask experts to do and how much they should expect to pay for a variety of services. Please register here: http://bit.ly/3cl5RdA. This event is free and sponsored by Around Town DC, which is funded by a grant from the Department of Aging and Community Living. At Tenley-Friendship Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66657 

Sunday, March 8 at 1 PM, Make a Protest Sign. August 18, 2020 will be the 100th anniversary of  women gaining the right to vote. It took many years and the hard work of many activists and reformers for women to win the right to vote in the United States. Suffragists used their voice to fight for change, including through protests and written declarations. What issues do you care about? What will you use your voice to fight for? Be an activist! Join us to make a sign for your next protest. Materials provided for kids 5-18 and their families. Free. At the Takoma Park Library, 416 Cedar St. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66743   

Sunday, March 8 from 1 - 3 PM, An American Story: Jewish & Muslim Perspectives - Artists Reception. Meet and mingle with the exhibiting artists of An American Story: Jewish & Muslim Perspectives. Enjoy the exhibition while sampling an offering of traditional Jewish and Muslim foods and light soft drinks. A special presentation by clergy members representing Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths will begin at 2 PM. Free. Registration is required at http://bit.ly/2VFdXYI 

Sunday, March 8 at 4 PM, Author Talk: 1913 Suffrage Parade, Spectacle & Tipping Point. Imagine a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue led by a woman on horseback in a flowing white cape and gold crown. Behind her stretched a parade with three heralds, four mounted brigades, nine bands, 24 floats and more than 5,000 marchers. This was the 1913 Suffrage Procession, long credited as the tipping point that led to the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. The Chevy Chase Historical Society continues its celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, finally ratified in 1920, with an illustrated lecture by historian and author Rebecca Boggs Roberts. Roberts’ talk will describe the march on the eve of Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration that was marred by violence, injuries, minimal police intervention and marchers’ persistence. The program will be followed by a reception of light refreshments and sale and signing of Roberts’ book, Suffragists in Washington, DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote.  No reservations are required for the free lecture, and the community is welcome. At the Lawton Community Center, 4301 Willow Lane, in the Town of Chevy Chase. For more information, contact CCHS at 301-656-6141 or email info @ chevychasehistory dot org 

Monday, March 9 at 12 noon, Lecture: The Slaves Who Built DC, presented by Lina Mann, historian, White House Historical Association. Lina Mann tells the stories of enslaved individuals who built the iconic buildings of Washington, DC, including the White House, US Capitol, Post Office, Patent Office, and many others. By renting enslaved individuals from slave owners in the area, the commissioners for the construction sought to “reap the benefits of labor without bearing any responsibility for the workers’ general wellbeing,” according to Mann. Discover how changes in the city and public opinion led to the decline in slavery in the District in the 1830s. Free, no registration required. At The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 701 21 Street, NW, https://museum.gwu.edu/slaves-who-built-dc 

Tuesday, March 10 from 10 – 11:30 AM, Propagation Workshop, hosted by UDC’s CAUSES. Come learn the basics of springtime seeding, while helping to start trays of seedlings that will be grown on the University's green roof. The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), University of the District of Columbia (UDC), is offering a propagation workshop. This workshop will cover how to start a seed so that it will produce the hardiest plants, and how to take care of your seeds as they grow into seedlings. Free and open to the public. Register: http://bit.ly/2TixmwO. At The University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Building 44, Level-P, Green Roof

Tuesday, March 10 from 12:10 - 1 PM, Great Salt Water: A Musical Telling of the History of the Chesapeake Bay. Music for mandolin, guitar and bass with Josh Walker and friends, telling the story of our region's most important water resource. Concert is free and open to the public; suggested donation is $10. At Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street NW. Register: http://bit.ly/2x1IEwQ 

Tuesday, March 10 from 7:30 - 9 PM, YIMBYism: Now ruining neighborhood character nationwide? Alex Baca, Coalition for Smarter Growth, is the speaker at the March meeting of Action Committee for Transit (ACT), held the second Tuesday of each month, at the Silver Spring Civic Center, 1 Veteran's Plaza, Silver Spring, MD. More info: http://actfortransit.org/

Wednesday, March 11 from 6 - 8 PM, Alley Hoppin’! Reception and Talk. Hop on down to the District Architecture Center for the opening of ALLEY HOPPIN! Putting People Back in DC’s Alleys. Join us for a reception and talk by Mark Lawrence and Elizabeth Emerson of EL Studio who will share tales about the Washington Alley Project in addition to unveiling several new public feedback initiatives which will run over the course of the exhibition. Visitors will have an opportunity to ‘show us your alley’ and vote for ways in which they could improve in the future. Artist Robin Bell of Bells Visuals animates the SIGAL Storefront with a light installation for the evening festivities. Free, RSVP required. https://www.aiadc.com/WAPOpening. The District Architecture Center is at 421 7th St NW.

Wednesday, March 11 at 7 PM, Book Hill Talks: Horticultural Embellishments in 19th Century Paris Gardens. Ann Komara, Garden and Landscape Studies Fellow, Dumbarton Oaks and Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, University of Colorado Denver will discuss the transformation of the Parisian urban landscape during the Second Empire (1851-1870). Free. At Georgetown Library, 3260 R St. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66560

Thursday, March 12 at 12 noon, It’s 3 1 2 Day! On 3-12, all who hail from the Windy City are invited out to this lunchtime celebration with fellow ex-Chicagoans, where they can swap stories of all the 312 phone numbers they’ve had...or may even still have on their cell phones. All Chicagoans are welcome, even those who grew up with a 773 or an 872 area code. It’s a day for nostalgia for a time when, if you knew a person’s area code, you could instantly tell where they lived. This event will be held at the Uno’s Pizzeria at Union Station, and seating will immediately be assigned based on which of two groups you fall into: those who think the Uno’s chain represents a travesty of Chicago deep dish pizza, and those who think it’s really not that bad for a mass-market imitation. If you want a slice, you must pre-order at: http://bit.ly/cpfakeevent 

Thursday, March 12, 2020, 6:30 PM, Know Your Neighborhood: Tenley on the Map. Tenleytown has experienced enormous changes since its founding. Come explore the history of Tenleytown in maps, from the middle 1800s to today. Then create your own map of the neighborhood. As part of our Map Madness! program series, this program will include hands-on activities suitable for everyone age 5 and up. Free. At Tenley-Friendship Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave. NW, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66564 

Thursday, March 12 at 7 PM, An Evening with Lonnie Bunch. The Francis A. Gregory Library is hosting a discussion with Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and founding director of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. In conversation with Dana Williams of Howard University, Secretary Bunch will discuss his book, A Fool’s Errand, and talk about the founding of the country’s first national museum dedicated to African American culture. Copies of the book will be available with pre-signed bookplates. Free. At the Francis A. Gregory Library, 3660 Alabama Ave. SE, https://www.dclibrary.org/node/66729