Leonardo at MLK

We don't have free universal health care or higher education but one thing we do have in Washington are plenty of free museums and exhibitions. Although you may be thinking of the various Smithsonian museums (and you should -- they are great!), there are multiple other venues with intriguing and thought provoking offerings.  For example, at the MLK Library, the flagship of the city's public libraries, you can now view 12 original drawings from Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, a collection of the great man's drawings and notes done between 1478 and 1519.  These are small pen and ink or pencil works detailing various mechanical works. It's a tiny gem of an exhibit that will make you wonder at the man's genius and marvel that he once held these pieces of paper in his hands.  And while you are there, check out the other exhibits as well as the beautifully refurbished building designed by Mies van de Rohe.

Imagining the Future is open to the public seven days a week through August 20th.

Soccer Memories

Although I enjoy going to the occasional Nats game, I don't follow professional sports. Actually I don't follow college sports either. But every four years, I cannot get enough of the Women's World Cup.  So right now, it's game on. 

Soccer was an integral part of my 1970s childhood and part of how I defined myself as a girl. I started playing in a YMCA rec league when I was 10 and kept on playing through my junior year in college. Thanks to the Y league rule that every player must play half of every game, I had the chance to develop skills that as an admittedly not particularly athletic kid, I would have never learned sitting on the bench.  I wasn't fast (okay, I was slow) and I didn't have any fancy moves, but I was scrappy and determined. 

In junior high, a couple of my friends and I played on the boys team at my tiny private school, freaking out opposing teams who apparently couldn't cope facing off against girls. When I transferred to public school in 10th grade, there wasn't a girls team there either. The school board dug in on its decision not to fund a girls team, claiming that if it supported girls soccer, it would have to support ice hockey as well (a claim that seemed pretty weak for a community in the Deep South). An enterprising mom created an entire shadow league, fielding teams at 10 high schools to show the depth of support. The school board finally relented the year after I graduated. In college, I played on the B team, facing off against smaller schools nearby while the more talented players on the A team had stiffer competition in the NCAA's Division III.

We didn't have the spatial awareness, speed, impressive footwork, or the raw power that you find today at even at the high school level. But soccer to me was about hard work and persistence, digging deep when you'd had enough, when your muscles ached and you felt sick to your stomach. It was also about fun and camaraderie. I have great memories of hot days on dusty fields, hard fought wins against long-time rivals, and lots of laughs (and probably more giggles than the coaches preferred) and shenanigans with my teammates. Qualifying to be a referee taught me how to be a leader and exercise authority with the players and their sometimes obnoxious parents. The through line was that girls can do it too, a feminist message that has burned in me on and off the field in the years since. 

So I'll be in front of the TV at odd hours over the next few weeks, cheering on Team USA as they go for yet another gold. And even though it's been decades since I've touched a soccer ball, I find myself physically reacting to play on the screen, a sign that soccer is still truly in my blood.

Barbie

I wasn't much of a doll person as a kid, and I never had a Barbie. I did have a Penny Brite who was kind of an off-brand Skipper:  no curves, no boyfriends, and many fewer outfits and accessories. My kids never had Barbies either, that is until my husband after relating this (perhaps interpreted as bragging) to his siblings, my older daughter was mysteriously gifted three or four of them, including Tooth Fairy Barbie,  Working Girl Barbie (with laptop, file folders and a skirt that reversed from pencil to pouffy for the perfect day-into-night transformation) and another who could only be described in her Daisy Dukes and midriff as Hooker Barbie.  

So I can't really get into the whole hoopla around the Barbie movie coming out this week or the idea of dressing myself or redecorating my house with the Barbiecore aesthetic. But as a longtime appreciator of lawn garnish (more on that in posts to come), I am impressed by the creativity and hard work of the residents of 1454 Q Street NW whose Barbie Pond has its own Instagram account and an everchanging display of Barbies at work and play.  

This week, Barbie has on her signature pink and white checked dress, looking more ready to go to the movies than to the beach with Ken in his pink convertible. I'm not totally sure about the army of Barbies in the pond below the house but at least they look like they are having fun. 

The other day, she and her friends were serving on the Supreme Court. Think of the decisions that they would hand down. Perhaps life in plastic would be fantastic.

Found Object

Months ago, the only slotted spoon in my kitchen disappeared. It wasn't anything special but was handy to have for dishing out marinated cucumbers and pickled beets.  I don't even know where it came from originally, although I'm guessing it came with my husband when we combined our household wares some 35 years ago.  

It wasn't in the dishwasher or the dish rack, nor in the silverware drawer or the two utensil drawers. After awhile, I just assumed that it had gotten thrown out by accident. And with my birthday coming up, I put a slotted spoon on my list, sending a link to my husband for one that matches our flatware.

Then this morning, I was making a blueberry tart and pulled the essentials out of the pantry, putting them on  the counter to measure out. And there it was, stuck in the bag of powdered sugar, with the twist tie that closed the plastic bag wrapped around the handle of the spoon, presumably last used to dust a cake or pie.

I've gotten used to missing socks and to walking into a room and then wondering why I'm there but this was next level. At least it wasn't the car keys, or an important document, bottle of medication, or a child. And the good news is that if I get a new one as a present soon, I'll have backup the next time around. 

Brushes with Celebrity (of a certain kind)

One of the features of life in DC is that you often run into celebrities -- well that is, celebrities known to those who follow news and politics. There's Dana Bash, anchor of CNN's State of the Union, at the no-frills neighborhood nail salon, Dan Rather perched on a bench outside the Library of Congress, senators going out for coffee or a spin through the beloved independent bookstore, Politics and Prose. Julian Bond used to stroll over to Connecticut Avenue from his unassuming home three blocks away -- no longer with us but forever noted on this sidewalk bench.

But one of the unspoken rules of etiquette is that you let these folks live their lives -- you don't stop and ask for autographs or expect them to engage in a deep discussion of current events. You forgive Al Franken for walking down the street in winter with a Burberry scarf wrapped around his head like a crazed fortune teller (guess he left his hats at home in Minnesota) and you make way for the chief justice and his wife when they crawl over you in the movie theater after the lights have gone down.

Years ago, my mother was visiting from out of town and we went to the playground with my daughter who was only two or three at the time. It was cold and desolate and the only other family there was Senator and one-time presidential candidate George McGovern with his grandchild. Despite my urgings to let the man be, my mom insisted on engaging with him -- I can't remember what she said, perhaps that she was one of the few Georgians who had voted for him in 1972. I cringed but in retrospect, perhaps Sen. McGovern was heartened by the encounter.  Saying thank you for your service is, after all, never considered bad manners.

Summer in All Its Glory

Summer in Washington, DC is not for the faint of heart.  While we haven't been experiencing the brutal temperatures that are crushing Texas, the hot and muggy weather is here and I imagine it will stay until early September.  This calls for getting your outdoor exercise in early in the morning, hydrating, and generally taking it slow.  Good thing is that you will rewarded with these vibrant colors plus the bounty of the summer garden -- tomatoes, cukes, peaches, and watermelon.