Life in DC

Well it’s been a year.  A year since I packed up my condo, sold my car, and left Memphis.  I moved to Memphis in 1989 to attend Rhodes College. I would have never guessed I would live there for twenty plus years.  I love Memphis, I could write a manifesto on how awesome the city of Memphis and its people are.  Why leave? Change is not only good but necessary.

Long time ago (1989)

I can’t speak for everyone but I need a good swift kick in the ass and/or punch in the gut from time to time.  This move was that.  Professionally, I believe that Hutchison had reached its benefit from my and I vice versa for me.  I’ve been luckily enough to go to and leave jobs at the right time for me.  I went from teaching nothing but Middle and Asian Studies to 8^th grade girls to teaching world history, English, and math (yes, math) to 6^th grade boys.  It became less about WHAT I taught and more HOW I taught. Think of it like, going to boot camp for teaching strategies.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever go into educational admin/leadership if I do this was very necessary.  It was tough and I second guessed my decision to leave Memphis and Hutchison more than few times. Change is tough, challenging, and so great for renewal of you personal and professional soul.

Views of STA

     

I was moving into a house of a great friend of mine from college when I moved from Memphis. To DC.  No lease, no signing up for utilities, no worries….. Sort of.  Unfortunately he was trapped with arguably one of the least deadline driven contractor of all time.  The initial move in date was August of 12’, actual date, March 13’.  So I became the most comfortable “homeless “  teacher in history. I stayed a month with one of my best friends from HS, his wife, and their three kids ages, 1.5 to 5.5.  I got to be Uncle “Grubby” (long story, but a nickname from HS) and hopefully helped out to justify my extended stay.  In December I moved to the Commonwealth of Virginia and took advantage of the hospitality of a friend in DC who I became friends with over the course of my summers in DC.  He’s another western PA. guy and the headmaster of my HS was his parish priest in Sharon, Pa, the world is small and fun.

 Sunset in Bloomingdale

I now live in a neighborhood in DC they are calling Bloomingdale. Those familiar with DC may know it as the area of town, north if Union Station, south of Howard U, east of Shaw, and just west (one street) of North Capital Street.  It’s a fun neighborhood, and even though the contractor lacks deadline awareness he makes up for in general craftsmanship. The hood’ trends towards hipster.  What does that look like? Think single gear bicycles, fedora hats, black rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, and lots of discussion about the lack of “farm to table” and “green friendly” places to eat.  There are new restaurants and bars opening up weekly.  I need only walk a couple of blocks in any direction to buy great beer. These are things that I need. 

Things that make life easy/happy for me in DC; CapitalBikeshare, the new Google Maps App, my WMATA Smart card, free lectures at various think tanks, my Reader Identification card  from the Library of Congress, the view of the Jefferson Memorial at twilight, the view from the Lincoln Memorial at sunrise,  a cup of coffee on my patio in the morning, and a cold beer on patio on the same porch in the evening, and my old and new friends.  

Jefferson Memorial 

 View from the Lincoln Memorial.