AN OLD FAMILY PHOTO

Gregg was at his Dad's house looking through old boxes of family photos.  There have been some treasures he has come across, ones of his mother he has never seen. 

 

This, however, is a mystery. There are no people here that we recognize. There were lots of photographs with nothing to identify them on the back.  A reminder to us both to start looking through the boxes of photos we have taken over the years (before the digital era).  We are guessing this was taken in the late 20s, early 30s.  I loved it!

I went on line and found the following poem.  Says it all for so many of our photos found.

"I love my family photos,

Such a simple treasure to me.

So many wonderful people

That are part of my history.

I look upon their faces,

My uncles, cousins and aunts.

I see myself in some of them,

The eyes...the smile...the stance.

Decked out in Sunday fashion,

They gathered for a quick snapshot.

Some clothes were made at home,

And some of them they bought.

And look at how far back they go,

To the horse and buggy days.

Perhaps we were not born yet,

Or were small with the past a haze.

Oh, look at Grandpa's trophies.

He tooks so very good.

He knew he was quite a hunter,

Though he wouldn't say out loud.

Let's not forget the animals

That helped to work the farm.

They too were part of our family

And had their special charm.

Just look at the family autos.

They had such class and style.

Yes, I love my family photos.

Come and look at them a while."

~Marilyn Lott~

Thank you Marilyn!

DRIVING HOME FROM WASHINGTON DC

Thank you for all the lovely comments you have left.  I will be answering them shortly.

After picking up our car from the underground parking lot at The Plaza, CityCenter, I took a few shots when driving through Washington DC on our way home.

The building in the photo below is the newest of the Smithsonian museums, The National Museum of African American History and Culture.  On our next trip into the city, it will be first on our list.  It opened in September 2016.

I have been taking photos of The Washington Monument for 41 years.  We started married life just outside of the city and brought our bikes in often, riding around all the monuments.  We rode for miles and miles.  Even though we have lived in several places on the East and West Coasts, we always seem to end up not too far away from Washington DC.

In the distance you can see The White House.

This is the Eccles Building, home of the Federal Reserve.

The statue of Albert Einstein had a lot of company that day.

And a quote by Albert, which I rather liked.
"Our task must be to free ourselves - by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

This building is part of the United States Institution of Peace.  

It is one of the newest buildings on Constitution Avenue, only about 10 years old.

We are driving by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  It is undergoing an expansion project.  I saw Swan Lake here when I first came to the States and a few years later, Madame Butterfly, a couple of other performances I can't remember.  I haven't attended any for a long time.

Here we are driving across the Potomac River via the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.  The buildings are in Rosslyn.  When we cross we are back in Virginia.

It was a lovely day weather-wise.  Not too hot!

THE PLAZA, CENTERCITY, WASHINGTON DC

We had parked in an underground parking lot a few blocks away from the convention center.  Because there were thousands of people attending Awesome Con, I feel we were lucky getting a space in this one.  There are very good signs on each floor, indicating how many spaces are left.  Over each space is a light, red for not available, green for available.  When you are looking down a very long line of cars, that green light is clearly visible and you head towards it, hoping the space will stay empty until you can  reach it.  There are usually other cars driving around hoping for the same.  We drove into our 'green' spot and watched the light turn red as two cars passed by looking for their own green light.  



We took the elevator up into a large square (The Plaza, CityCenter) where there were shops and restaurants, and these lovely sculptures.   (We took our photos when we were heading back).

There are other sculptures around the city, and if you go to this site you can read all about them.

The artist is Hung Yi. 
From the above link you will read the following:

"Dromedary Camel (The Plaza at CityCenter) Hung Yi's Bactrian and Dromedary camels, aka two and one humped camels, represent travel, survival and journeying.  Bactrian, the two humped camel is named after the area once known as Bactria, or Central Asia, from where they originated.  Dromedary camels have one hump, and are native to African and Middle Eastern Deserts.  Not only did Hung Yi take two already unusual, almost mythical animals and make them even more wild and whimsical, he also is encouraging unity between the diverse cultures these two camels represent."

This link will give you even more information.

If you click on this you will learn what there is to see at the Plaza.  

In the following photo there are beachballs strung overhead.  These decorations change with the seasons.  The restaurant we went into was on the right just out of sight.

The same on the other side of the Plaza.

You can't really tell from the following photos but all those baubles are moving around at a fast rate of speed, up the wall, over your head and onto the other side, and then they appear again as if in a circular movement.  These also change design.  I saw a man floating through the air after this.  

I wish I had thought to take a video so that you could get a better idea of what it looks like. 

You can just about make out on the left the glass walls of the elevator shaft, which took us down into the parking area.  

Next time I will show you the views as we were heading out of the city.