SEVEN ON MY SIDE

This morning I got up at 4:00 a.m. and drove down to the Tidal Basin where I met up with two friends from work. We were there to photograph the Jefferson Memorial at sunrise for our company's website. A news crew from ABC Channel 7 was there doing a story on the cherry blossoms (which are almost in full bloom). After snapping a few pictures, we were approached by a reporter who asked us to answer a few questions on camera. He promised it would only take 10 seconds, but of course he was just saying that. Before I knew it, the cameraman was giving me all sorts of directions, having me walk toward certain trees, look around and then pretend to snap a few photos. I don't know if any of this made it on to the air...I kind of hope not, because it was so cold down there that my face was half frozen and I probably sounded funny. Believe it or not, later in the afternoon, it snowed again, and although the snow didn't stick, there were a lot of big, heavy flakes coming down.

JESUS!

Before leaving town and heading back to Washington, I stopped at a catholic church to see one of my dad's latest projects. He and friend just finished restoring a 13 foot sculpture of Jesus Christ. The sculpture was originally created by artist, John Silk Deckard, who passed away soon after the sculpture was installed. As the years passed, the sculpture began breaking down due to some structural flaws. It took a number of weeks, but sculpture is repaired and stronger than ever. The surface quality was greatly improved as well. It really is a powerful sight to see, especially when the sunlight hits it through the skylights in the ceiling.

THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

Yesterday I spent the day in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I've been wanting to go there for years, and finally carved out the time to go. Admittedly, now I had a little extra incentive, since the current feature exhibition is "In the Name of Love: Two Decades of U2."

I love how the museum sits right on the water.

The guards wouldn't let me take my camera inside, so I was only able to take a few shots in the lobby.

This was a real treat for me. U2 has been my favorite band since I was 15. I've seen them in concert four times, and even had 3rd row seats for one show. But seeing things like the first U2 T-shirt (made by Larry Mullen in his high school art class) and the original hand written lyrics to "Stay (Far Away So Close)" was just great.

HOME

Wow, what a week. Crazy Tractor Man has come and gone, and war has broken out. It's a scary world we live in, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I remember several years ago when I was going through a very difficult time with someone I thought I used to know, my dad gave me a piece of advice. He told me that sometimes things have to get a whole lot worse before they can get better. In that situation, he turned out to be right, and so I can only hope that the same will be true now. I know I'm in the minority here, but I honestly think that our dealing with a bad situation now is better than sitting back and having to deal with an even worse situation later.

I'm taking a few days off of work and visiting my parents in Pennsylvania. As soon as I got home, I went straight to the beach to catch the tail end of the sunset. I had almost forgotten just how peaceful it is at the water's edge.

By the time I got to the beach, there was almost no light left, so my only option was to take time-exposed shots, which really brings out the blues.

The only other people at the beach were a man, his two children, and his father. All were fishing at the time, and had caught at least two good sized salmon while I was there.

CRAZY TRACTOR MAN

Oh yea, we've got a live one here. So yesterday at around noon, a tobacco farmer from North Carolina drove his John Deere tractor into a shallow pond near the reflecting pool here in DC He's still there and is in a standoff with the Police because he claims he's got explosives. Apparently, he's had it with the government taxing tobacco (or something like that) and now he's prepared to blow himself up to get his point across. News flash buddy, your timing absolutely sucks. We're about to go to war and nobody is listening to you. You're not getting any coverage on TV and you're not helping your cause. I'm sorry you've fallen on hard times, and I'm sorry you're mentally ill, but you're messing with a city that's already on edge, so why don't you do us all a favor and go grow something useful, like... ummmm..... oh, I don't know, maybe... FOOD!

Seriously, all Crazy Tractor Man has done is make us a little more vulnerable by tying up the police when we need them the most. I think three government buildings had to be closed, and traffic is completely screwed up because the police were forced to close Constitution Avenue, a major artery here. We had people at work this morning arrive as much as two hours late due to the traffic tie-ups. The news really isn't reporting much about this because their focus is on the impending war, but here's a link to the story and a good photo on Washingtonpost.com.

I walked to the Reflecting Pool at lunch today, to see this mess for myself, but I couldn't get anywhere near the pond where Crazy Tractor Man was because the police have to keep everyone away. In the center of this photo, you can just barely see the top half of the tractor through the trees.

The way I see it, this standoff has to end soon. Eventually, he's going to fall asleep and then I'm sure the police will make their move. I'll tell you - there's never a dull moment around here. I think I'm ready to move.

THE CAR WASH

Now that the snow is behind us, we can start looking forward to better weather, salt-free roads, and in time the cherry blossoms. I'll be sure to get some shots of them in the coming weeks. For now it's time for a little spring cleaning, starting with my car which had about 10 pounds of salt on it. When I was a kid, I loved going through the car wash, and it's still great fun today... expensive as hell, but fun.