cherry blossom girl

I work around the corner from the Tidal Basin, but the hoards of crowds coming for the Cherry Blossom Festival deterred me from heading down there during peak visiting hours (i.e., early morning, afternoon, and sunset—pretty much all day). So I decided to take advantage of the alone time I've been having this week to head down on my bike and enjoy the cherry blossoms at night, when there are very few people around. I was a little bit sad that Robbie wasn't there to enjoy it (he hasn't seen the cherry blossoms ever, and we've lived here for almost three years!), but it was really nice to just have some time to channel my alonergy and enjoy things at my own pace.

On my way to and from the Tidal Basin, I rode by the Hirshhorn, where they just installed SONG 1 by Doug Aitken. It's this incredible video/music projection that wraps around the already-striking Hirshhorn building. Cars were stopping to watch the show, crowds were forming and people were breaking out into spontaneous slow dances. If you live in the area, you have to check it out before it's taken down in May. 

Sometimes DC wears me out. It's likely because I associate the cool things in DC—like the Mall and museums—with work. But at night, the city transforms a little bit, and I don't feel like I need to rush from one place to the next. There's little to no traffic around the Mall, the weather is mild, there aren't many people on the sidewalks, and the monuments are brilliantly lit up. And then I fall in love all over again.