Wild Alexandria

Although this scene looks as if I’m miles away from civilization, it’s only a few steps away from dozens of apartment complexes and single family homes. Dora Kelly Nature Park is Alexandria’s largest nature preserve, covering 50 acres. I came at the wrong time of day to find critters. The wildest thing I saw was a group of overexcited school children on a guided tour.

It would have been helpful if the City of Alexandria Parks & Rec website had mentioned that the main entrance near Beauregard and Morgan Streets has no parking lot! Next time I’ll come earlier and I’ll know which residential street to leave the trusty Subaru on.

The first of every month is theme day for Daily Photo bloggers. Stop by tomorrow to see what we’re up to!

Not Passante’s Mailbox

Thought of Passante of Picturing Washington when I saw this, as she uses a butterfly as her avatar. On closer inspection, I was slightly disappointed to observe that the butterflies aren’t actually painted on the mailbox. It’s a metal mailbox slipcover. Chewing that one over awhile, it seems sensible, especially if the homeowner’s artistic talent is anywhere near the level of mine.

Rah Rah

Everything turns into a series with me lately. Bobby Goren would be proud. (For those of you who don’t watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Goren is the detective whose specialty is picking out bizarre behavioral patterns that no one else notices.)

Turning now to the photograph at hand, I’ve never cared whether the whole world knows where I went to college. Bought a college sweatshirt once but only because it was on sale. And I’ve never cared about college sports. Call me crazy, but getting excited about a bunch of guys carrying a ball around is just not something I could ever do. Painting my college team logo on my mailbox will thus never enter the top 10,000 on my list of things to do.

Cat Mail

By a strange coincidence, not long after taking yesterday’s frogbox, on my way to do a little shopping at Bailey’s Corners, a shopping mall about five miles from home, I spied this cat mailbox on a road I’d taken many times. Until I had taken the photo of the frog mail box, I had never noticed it.

Unfortunately, I have no clever quotes, puns or tie-ins to add. So there you have it.

Neither Rain Nor Frog Nor Dark of Night

Unique mailboxes are much more a rural phenomenon in the U.S. than in urban areas. I was delighted to find this frog box on Quaker Lane in the West End.

For those of you not familiar with the U.S. Postal Service, their credo goes something like: “Neither rain nor fog nor dark of night shall keep the postman from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.” According to Bartleby’s Quotations, that is a paraphrase of a quotation from Herodotus around 480 B.C., describing the Persian message carrying system. Pretty clever, those ancient dudes.

All Planets Are Not Created Equal

Yesterday astronomers stripped Pluto of its planetary status. The announcement was received with hate email from second graders. Awww….sorry, Pluto. I still love you. You’ll always be a planet to me, even if you are smaller than our moon.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, even if all planets are not created equal, Generous George believes that all children are. It’s a lovely sentiment. Thomas Jefferson would approve.

Generous George’s

Generous George’s Positive Pizza and Pasta Place on Duke Street has been around since 1977, a remarkable feat in the restaurant business. Recently the building got a facelift with a fresh coat of cotton candy pink paint and new awnings, making it much more inviting. It’s been awhile since I’ve been there. Guess it’s time to return and see whether the inside has gotten a facelift, too. All I remember is the portions were huge, and the lasagna and margaritas were outstanding. No wonder they’ve been in business for so long.

Used, Already Read Books

There is a danger in making assumptions, and clearly the proprietor of this newly opened used bookstore is taking no chances. I wonder if he would be at all interested in any of my books which are used but not already read.

All true book fiends know that we sometimes divest ourselves of books without having read them. Oh, you’re hot for that book when you first see it. You just have to have it, and you know you’ll get around to reading it eventually. Then stuff happens. You don’t have time, but you’ll get to it later. Then your interests change, and secretly you know you’ll never read it but you hang onto it anyway for years.

If only this bookstore had been open when I finally faced the truth four months ago. The nearest used bookstore at that time was a very unpleasant, congested 50 minute drive which I swore I would never do again. Thank goodness for this place. Facing the truth is now only ten minutes away.