This morning I biked to Shaw Ecovillage.  As an urban nonprofit organization, it has more in common with the Rhizome Collective I visited in Austin than the ecovillages I've visited in rural areas.  The basic idea is that the adults in the organization raise money and the kids -- teenagers -- decide how to spend it to improve the neighborhood.  They've created community gardens, painted murals, and started a community bike shop.  Because I visited during the school day, there were no teenagers at the shop, but the college-grad day managers, Max & Wakeel, were eager t

Today was forecast to be the only truly glorious day of the week, so I took my bike out for a spin.  I followed about 3/4 of the Rock Creek Park bike trail, all of the Capitol Crescent trail, and the very end of the C&O Towpath -- that's the trail that Granny D covered on cross-country skis when she was running late for a press conference and an unexpected snow fell.

I tried to sleep in after staying out late last night, but I'm so used to waking up at dawn I couldn't help myself.  I packed up and left Gallaudet for All Souls Church, riding through the neighborhood Marisa had warned me against last night, and I have to admit it looked pretty questionable in the daytime, too.

Late this morning I rode the Metro to the National Mall.  I checked on the cherry blossoms, but most of the trees are still a day or two from full bloom.

Today's weather was just miserable: cold and rainy and windy.  I stayed indoors as long as I could stand to -- Marisa let me use her computer while she was in a study group all afternoon -- but then I insisted on going out.

Marisa thought I was crazy, not only because of the weather, but because the neighborhood is considered to be very unsafe.  I figured I had seen worse weather and worse neighborhoods, but I didn't make it off campus.  By the time I got back to the dorm, my pants and shoes were soaked with shockingly cold water.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on April 2, 2005]

Hi, folks! I'm safe and sound at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC! It's hard to believe I've completed my three months in the South and crossed Virginia in less than a week!

I only had to ride about 2 miles on the highway today; near Mount Vernon I picked up a bike trail that parallels the Potomac River all the way into town.  I stopped at a place called Gravelly Point for a first view of the Washington skyline, and I wound up watching a mother trying in vain to get her son as interested in the airplanes at Reagan National Airport as she was.

The wind shifted at bedtime last night so that I had to listen to the Interstate and railroad all night... they weren't loud enough to justify wearing earplugs, but the trains were loud enough to wake me several times.  I got up bright and early, irritated by the highway that wouldn't leave me alone even in my sleep.

I woke to the sound of birdsong this morning... that in itself isn't unusual, since my body has gotten used to that sign of approaching dawn... but this time I was wearing earplugs to block the sound of Interstate traffic, and I still heard the birds!

The storm clouds continued to glide overhead all night, but today was dry, and the sky cleared beautifully in the afternoon.  I took time to repack my troublesome bearings this morning -- caught them before they rusted this time.

I rode right through the middle of Richmond, Virginia, because I couldn't find a good way to go around it.  I probably should have given the town more than a passing glance, but I didn't know where to start.