Adventuring in Maryland :: Cabin John Regional Park

Another dog owner at our neighborhood park suggested to Rupert that we try the dog park at Cabin John Regional Park. He recognized that Slinky was a rescue and it might benefit him to have more exposure to other dogs. His own dog, also a rescue, doesn't like certain breeds and finding that out about Slinky would be helpful.

I was pretty nervous about taking him to an enclosed area with lots of dogs. He barks and lunges at other dogs when we go on walks (but doesn't try to bite), and even if he gets a chance to sniff another dog and stops barking, he's timid and seems on edge.

[Look -- he's not freaking out around the other dogs!]

He barked off-and-on at the various dogs we saw from the parking lot through the park until we got to the dog park. But once we went inside the small dog area, he didn't bark at all. He wasn't super welcoming of other dogs sniffing him, but he didn't object and even sniffed some of them back. But, for the most part, he stayed away from most of the dogs and he wouldn't play with them. That said, it was a huge step forward for him that he even let them approach him without barking like crazy. He randomly barked at a woman on the other side of the fence who was in the big dog area, and he warily watched the large dogs, but he was surprisingly calm. (We saw a giant Irish Wolfhound in the other area and -- poor thing -- it looked like he was getting a bit bullied by the other dogs.)

It's clear that Slinky has issues with large dogs so it's highly possible that he had a bad experience with a big dog before we got him. Figuring things out bit by bit will, hopefully, help us figure out how to make things easier for him (and us!) when we go on walks. 

After a bit of time at the dog park, we hit the trail and followed Cabin John Stream for all of 10 minutes or so (each way). Slinky seemed to enjoy sniffing all the plants and exploring the stream bed. If it wasn't getting hot and humid, we probably could've stayed a bit longer. On the way back, though, he barked at several people. His barking is so unpredictable: he could be totally fine walking past one dad and little kid, and 30 seconds later, he would bark like crazy at another dad and kid.

All in all, it was a successful first trip to the dog park, and I'm sure we'll be back relatively soon. Let's hope Slinky had a good time and is willing to refrain from barking at everydog/one!

It's hot & humid

Apparently, DC had the highest temps today in the entire country! It is unseasonably hot and humid, which makes me pretty unhappy. (I'm actually much more tolerant of the cold weather than I am of the heat and humidity.) I really wanted to enjoy spring for awhile longer ...

clay class at Glen Echo Park, part 2

This week we worked with clay slabs. Maya loses interest rather quickly when she takes a class and she won't work on making things for longer than an hour (the class is an hour and a half).

She was fooling around with her slab and created a really cool objet d'art, so I asked her to make a modified one to see if we could get a candlestick in it:

 

I worked on a house number sign for our house:

Adventuring in Maryland :: C&O Canal National Historical Park, Great Falls Tavern

Adventuring in Maryland :: apple picking & pumpkin patching @ Homestead Farm

Adventuring in Maryland :: San Jose Taiko performance

I am not happy about this!

I'm beginning to regret saying things like, "I don't mind the cold too much." This year's winter seems to be never-ending. We're expecting another storm tonight and I'm sure they'll close school tomorrow.

All this after it snowed twice last week:

And the huge overnight dumping of snow the week before (which led to water issues in our basement ... again!):

It's not like Snowmageddon in 2010 when the DC Metro area got 18-32 inches of snow in one storm, but it's a different kind of weather annoyance: prolonged low temperatures with several significant (for the area) storms, leaving us with a few inches of snow each time. 

Keeping in mind this is nothing compared to what areas in the Midwest are enduring, the expectations of living here don't entail snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm. It's been quite the initiation into East Coast living.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of this storm's aftermath ... with the sincere hope that they're the last snow pictures I post this winter!

Virtual Guestbook :: The Grandparents

Virtual Guestbook :: High School Buddy

Half of a set of twins we've been hanging with since high school. We actually saw him back in July when we were staying at our temporary apartment in Virginia. He's back in DC again for work (he's in alternative energy) and we made him come out to Maryland to have dinner with us. 

We may not be particularly unusual, but I feel lucky that we're still very close with our core group of friends from high school. It's funny to think of ourselves as adults knowing what we were like 20 years ago, but, apparently, we've all grown up and are doing pretty well for ourselves!

Still cold ...

Are you getting tired of my cold weather posts yet?

The weather gods are constantly looking out for the kids: All of our Snow Days have butt up against a weekend or a holiday! This week, the kids had Monday off for MLK Day, Tuesday off for staff development, and today there's no school because of the weather!

The coldest it's been in 20 years

I'm going to feel really bad sending Ian out tomorrow morning (before 7am) when it's 3 degrees out! And it figures that it's going to be a clear day and freezing tomorrow, but warm (relatively speaking) and cloudy later in the week!

Updated January 7, 2014 :: Yup, it was cold this morning! Maybe not 3 degrees, but can you really feel the difference between 3 and 7 degrees?

First snow of 2014

I stepped out of the supermarket yesterday and was greeted by a flurry of big fat snowflakes (note the melting flakes in my hair). I was a bit surprised despite Maya having told me that morning it was going to snow and the brief precipitation I felt as I was walking toward the market 20 minutes earlier.

Driving home was actually my first time driving in snow, but it was no different than driving in a light drizzle since the snow wasn't sticking. I knew the storm that hit the Midwest and Northeast was pretty bad, but I didn't have any idea it would hit us in the Mid-Atlantic as bad as it did. The temperature plummeted and the snow kept right on falling ...

[After it stopped snowing, the sky and snow made the neighborhood brighter than it usually is late at night. This picture was taken without flash.]

[Waking up this morning, I was greeted by the rising sun made all the brighter by the whiteness of the snow.]

The kids were delighted that it was another Snow Day, making it a three-day weekend. I had intended to get some shopping done today but decided against going out since I'm a bit freaked out about icy roads. Instead, I spent the morning reading in bed. Despite the blue sky and sunny weather, it was a gusty morning and the wind made it "snow" again: accumulated snow from the roof and treetops was blown loose, swirling up and sideways and back again. I could see the tiny flakes in the sunlight and watching it was not only mesmerizing but calming as well.

I managed to drag Ian out of the house for a few minutes in the afternoon to go on a walk to the cemetery behind our house. I've been meaning to go for months to see what it's like on the other side of our backyard, which we can only glimpse from our bedroom window. Although it's right along a major street, it's its own little world with gravestones from the 1800s to early 1900s, some toppled over, some surprisingly new looking. Clearly, it's not visited very often (in fact, I've only seen signs of (live) human life once since we moved in six months ago) and, strange as it sounds, I just wanted to let my "neighbors" know that even though I don't know who they are, they aren't forgotten; even briefly, I think about them everyday.

The snow does that to me. Not to be punny, but seeing even a few inches of snow freezes time for me and makes me rather introspective. No deep thoughts, but it gives me the chance to pause for a moment and think about something other than myself.

Getting used to the cold

Ian and I were walking to a classmate's house this morning, chatting about how we're getting used to the colder weather. It was a beautiful sunny morning and Ian thought it must be in the 50s. A quick look at my weather app told us otherwise:

I'm finding that temperatures in the mid-30s are actually tolerable, especially when the sun's out. This would've been unthinkable when we lived in LA. In the first place, when is it ever in the mid-30s in LA?? What passed as "freezing" for us back then were temps in the low- to mid-50s, which is pleasant, warm weather here. 

Just goes to show, you get used to most things!

Snow Day

Second Snow Day in a row (although, officially, yesterday was an Emergency Weather Day because of icy conditions). It's not even officially winter yet and we've already used up two of the four Snow Days we can have before the district starts tacking on days to the end of the school year. 

My brother-in-law and his wife live in Rochester, New York and we were talking about snow over Thanksgiving, and it came up that DC-area "Snowmageddon" was a regular occurrence in their area. Which makes me wonder how bad it has to get in places like Rochester, Minnesota, or Canada before they declare a Snow Day. 

The kids are, obviously, enjoying this unexpected long weekend. I actually am too. I've decided not to venture out and I'm taking advantage of the serenity (minus the kids' voices) to catch up on some reading. Luckily, we have enough food in the house so I don't have to go out. 

7:45ish

8:45ish

9:45ish

10:45ish

11:45ish

OK, so most of the pictures look the same, but it's been snowing consistently for several hours so it's piling up more than it did on Sunday. 

By 3:00 the scene was already changing ...

There was just enough snow for me to build a snow penguin:

First real snow fall!

[photo collage by Rupert]

Day 25 :: Thankful for ...

... a little disposable income so I can occasionally treat myself to lunch (or a new shirt, or a book, or stationery).

Day 21 :: Thankful for ...

... a few quiet moments staring outside at the birds and squirrels fattening up for the winter. 

Where I Went Shopping :: GW Supermarket

Part of getting to know my new neighborhood/extended community entails visiting as many supermarkets as possible. Since moving to our house I've been to 11 different markets, and there are still more to explore!

My neighbor, who is from Japan, was nice enough to tell me about the Asian markets in the area. She even took me to a small Taiwanese market (Kam Sam Market) in Rockville earlier in the month. After picking up a few items, she suggested that we drive a block farther to a Chinese market her foodie friends had told her about. Despite only popping in the store for a few minutes, we were impressed with the size of the market and the selection; it was more impressive than the Taiwanese market, frankly.

So, I went back to Great Wall (GW) Supermarket on my own to find some inspiration after reading Fuchsia Dunlop's Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China.

The variety of meat and fish, vegetables, and wheat-based food items (buns, noodles, dumplings, etc.) was a bit overwhelming but it brought back good food-shopping memories of Ranch 99 back in California. I didn't buy any fish this time around, but at least I know I can get fresh (i.e., live) seafood here, including ...

... live frogs, soft shell turtles, blue crab, rockfish, and dried jelly fish!

They had a small selection of Japanese food items, and a whole aisle dedicated to Southeast Asian ingredients. It might not impress native Thai or Vietnamese cooks, but it seemed like it would satisfy any basic ingredient needs should I want to try my hand at those cuisines. 

Another reason to go back to GW is their take-out counter. For $4.99 you can get a heaping serving of rice, three dishes (there was even lobster), and soup. I didn't try it this time since I bought a container of congee and pastries instead. For $5 it's worth a try at least once if I'm in the area. The pastries are buy five, get one free so I bought some for dessert. The egg custard tart was my favorite by far; the chocolate-filled bun, not so much. 

Great Wall Supermarket (GW Supermarket)

700 Hungerford Drive

Rockville, MD 20850