Sunday, January 29, 2012

Urban Assault

Overall, I'm loving DC from being able to see the sun most days to reveling in free concerts at Kennedy Center and the National Cathedral to the beauty and history everywhere.  But, I think living on Vashon for most of the past nearly 8 years has made me move to a a slower beat.  I crave quiet, calm and nature.  The community where we live is as close to that as I think you can get and still be in the city.  I find that the morning routine of driving the less than 2 miles to Sophie's school, then the mile or so back towards home to Xavier's school and finally driving around in circles to find a place to park to take the subway and the reverse in the evenings (made more complicated by needing to find a place to park at each school in the evenings) leaves me feeling practically assaulted.  The defensive driving skills I learned in Ghana are coming in handy.  The sirens, lights and the fact that it feels like yelling is the major form of communication is dizzying for me.  I sometimes find myself paralyzed int he midst of it all.  By the time I get home in the evenings, I want to hide away in our quiet apartment and sit in silence.  Not something that happens very often with 2 kids and a hyper dog who all have so much to share about their days.  Today, Xavier, Rosie I walked in the woods near our house.  The area is a ravine with a creek running through it and I felt like I could breathe.  Xavier delighted in the mud, sticks and rocks and Rosie was in heaven being able to dip herself in the water.  I almost forgot I was in DC - until the police helicopter flew overhead!  We will all find our little pieces of the island quiet we love wherever we can!

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