One Last Thing From Our Trip

As we were waiting to take the train out of Union Station to come back home, who should wander up and jump in my cheetah print Grand Mera bag?

She said she'd heard about The Meezer and The Tonk and wanted to come meet them and spend a few days...she hasn't left yet. I think I'll keep her! (shhhh...)

Still Here, Knitting Some, Reading More, and Traveling Some, Too!

What have I been up to? Where have I been? I'm sorry, really I am...

Knitting a sock leftovers mitered square blanket. Yes, finally, I am. I've started two sock remnants blankets - one is the lovely diagonal squares out of wool blend sock yarns. This one, tho,' is using up my 100% merino wool fingering scraps. That square up there is made with a mini-skein of Miss Babs Yummy Toes in Zombie Reunion I picked up as a souvenir skein at Fiber Space in Alexandria VA on our recent trip to the capital...

So obviously I haven't been knitting all that much! Frankly, life is hurtling at the speed of light, I think. Where do the days go? Anyway, I have been reading. I'm filling my Kindle's storage by the minute it seems, with books on learning differences, vegan/plant-based diets (and recipes!), religion/theology (have I ever told you I once thought of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister -- had the cost not been so high, at a time when I was a young single parent, I might have done so, but it wasn't to be. That hasn't dulled my interest in all things related to spirituality.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, as I mentioned above, My Sweetheart and I took an extra long weekend trip by train to our nation's capital and enjoyed being tourists. We took two days to do the monument walk -- he'd never been, and there are so many new ones that I hadn't seen, I wanted to do this, badly). We took our time for many reasons, mainly that it's only been 6 months since my major shoulder surgery and I'm still getting my stamina and strength back! But it's coming, never fear...and this trip helped, I think, as we logged upwards of 10 miles walking in two days! That's a lot for these two somewhat sedentary, not-quite-but-almost-seniors!

On this trip, I discovered a new favorite memorial! I've always loved the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin at Cherry Blossom season (which unfortunately we missed this time, the blossoms were early, I think!). And I still love it, feel such peace and strength and inspiration under the dome, reading his words. But I'd not seen the FDR Memorial until this trip. I was moved to tears by it's simplicity and power. Just a couple of photos out of the many that both Sweetheart and I took:

Working as I do on behalf of people with disabilities, this statue was particularly meaningful, it was so long disputed as to whether it would even be a part of the memorial or not. It's placed simply, by itself under the trees:

Sweetheart took a nice photo of me standing in front of Eleanor Roosevelt's statue. One of the things that distressed me terribly on this trip was the general free-for-all attitude so many tourists exhibited, climbing all over the statues, that I refrained from doing what I wanted badly to do...place my Sweetheart's birthday sock (still on the needles, doncha know) in her hands and stand next to her. Well, I didn't. But oh, I wondered if somewhere, Eleanor was looking down and saying, "Oh...just give me those needles for one minute - a stitch or two, that's all I'd like right now, to bear the indignity of these urchins climbing everywhere."

Okay, I'm a might fanciful at times...

Also new to me was this powerful memorial to the Reverend Martin Luther King:

It was important to both my Sweetie and me to see this one. I so remember those times, and my parents were big supporters, tho' quietly, living in the segregated South as we did. My Sweetheart's parents, tho,' were very active in the Civil Rights Movement, and so we both felt it important to visit and read the words of this amazing pacifist and Civil Rights Activist. The memorial is every bit as powerful as any we saw.

My Sweetheart is a much better photographer than I am, and his photos of this monument are so much better. I thoroughly enjoy going on a photo excursion with him! I get to sit and knit sometimes while he's off composing his art, or if, like on this trip, we're someplace interesting to both of us, I enjoy puttering along looking at whatever catches my fancy, strolling, enjoying the scenery, people watching, that sort of thing. Yes, this man and I have definitely developed a companionable routine when it comes to this sort of activity - and we're both happy campers (there's no, "oh, dear, please hurry up and let's get..." Whew!)

So he surprised me at the TJ Memorial when, after a multitude of photos of the memorial itself, he said, "I want one of you!"

Yes, that's me, behind that hat and glasses. He picked out that hat for me, among several we looked at, and I have to say, I like it. I love hats, wish they were more part of our daily attire...oh, yes, did you notice that bag? Just one of my new cheetah print items that I made for myself just for this trip. It's a Knitnana Adorned:

There's your closeup! I love it, it's got more room than my usual Mera-sized bags. I have room for my Kindle in it's own cheetah print zippered case, and all my baglets for various necessities. I was a cheetah-print traveler this trip, and I loved it! LOLOL!

Now I'll try to do a little better about posting, but I can't promise much. But I've got two shows ahead of me, as you can see by that ticker up there, so maybe what you'll see the most of is Nana Sadie Rose's bags and accessories gracing these pages here for the next few months. I bet you won't mind that, now will you?