Category: Uncategorized

On a rainy Thursday night Bc, formerly known as Suburban Friend, was driving me home (the other trick to not having a car, having friends with cars) when he turned the corner and I started being silly. “Are they there?” I asked meaning the friendly neighborhood drug dealers. “Are they there?” I repeated. “Yes, they are there,” I exclaimed upon seeing them, in the rain and the dark. “Well,” Bc remarked, “you can’t call them lazy.”
Now they have been there a lot more often then usual. It didn’t help that the chairs they dragged from somewhere didn’t move. When I was tempted early Sunday morning to remove the chairs, ’cause it’s on public property, one of them was out there, at 8AM. 8AM. Sunday! Who on earth buys crack at 8AM on Sunday? Actually I had seen them out there earlier and earlier and at times and weather conditions I did not expect to see them. Which makes me wonder if they are trying to meet some quota or something. Bc reminded me that they do work on commission.
Maybe I am forgetting their Summer patterns but they do seem to be out on the corner more often than usual. This does make me wonder if they are putting in longer hours because a change in the drug economy. That might be good news. If they are forced to make up for a shrinking client base then the economic conditions of the neighborhood should make the area less attractive for drug dealing because it means more work. Throw on the changes in the neighborhood that include fewer new clients, more police because of neighbors complaining, and possibly time lost in jail or avoiding cops, fewer houses they can seek cover in, and the racial changes that make blending in harder, then it is possible that the area becomes less attractive for drug dealing. However, it is not like they can move in to another area without some costs and headaches, so they might stay put until the costs of operating on that block, outweigh the benefits.
So my neighbors keep up the pressure. Call the cops. Make street furniture like those plastic chairs and milk crates “disappear”. Hang out on your alley side balconies, and wave “hi” to all who look up as they pass by. Walk your dog. Black people walk with pride. And white people, be white.

Darned rain.
Makin’ my plants grow.
I’ve got so much dang lettuce I can’t keep up with it. I’m really going to try to eat enough to keep the mixed greens from crowding each other out.
I had to give away a nice bunch of radishes. A- I can’t eat a lot of them & B- they are a companion plant to the beans. I also grow them because when you wash off the dirt they are so fricken purdy.
Maybe this a precursor to when the tomatoes, beans and squash mature. But I really like tomatoes. Squash I can give or take. Depends on the day. Beans. Well I can dry those.
Speaking of squash those leaves are HUGE! They are taking up 1/2 the back yard!
Anyway when you see me around give me a heads up if you are willing to take my veggie overflow so I know where to dump my extras should this be a good year.

It has been an odd week and I wonder what new surprises the Post shall throw my way. But the week is nearly over, so hopefully nothing.
Monday, Memorial Day, I went out dancing to see some friends as I hadn’t gone out dancing at the ballroom for a while. So I danced with some people I hadn’t seen in a while including Rev. Arnold Taylor. The next day I get the Tuesday Post and who is smack dab on the front page? Arnold. In his Army uniform from his participation in, I guess, the Memorial Day Parade and festivities. So I’m being silly pointing out to my co-workers, that I danced with the guy on the cover of the Post. I thought it was amazing. Someone I knew. On the front page. And they didn’t knock over a liquor store. Amazing. However as I type this I just remembered I did dance with Fritz Hahn, who at the time was an entertainment writer for the Post, at least once, but really, not the same thing.
On a sadder note, a woman I interned under Mary Wolfskill died May 23rd and her obit appeared in Wednesday’s Metro section. She got a nice write up and a photo that showed the joyous woman many of us in the library and manuscripts field knew and loved. Reading more about her life I discovered she volunteered with my 2nd church’s Grate Patrol in Foggy Bottom. I called up Bc, who is very involved with the church, and asked if he knew Mary. Everybody knew Mary and asked if I wanted to attend her 7am memorial mass. I was told of her death and funeral after the fact by a friend who does research at the LC, so I was very willing to get to work late for Mary. At the memorial mass I ran into people I didn’t expect to see. People from where I worked, used to work, people from my main church, as well as those from St. Paul’s.
I have heard it said before that DC is a small town. Typically I never really believed it. But this week, because of the Washington Post, DC seems a bit smaller, where we all are just a few degrees of separated from each other.

Okay no secret that my councilman wants to be the next unpopular mayor of Washington, DC (face it after 3 months we will hate your guts, whomever is mayor). I believe he has no chance compared to his fellow council members with greater name recognition for other things than trying to run for mayor. Regardless, I wish him the best of luck.
But I’m writing to complain about the Ward 5 website. You go to it and Orange takes up like 1/2 the page. The page seems to be more of a tribute to Orange than about Ward 5. I’m not into joining the cult of the Orange (which I imagine may include hanging out at the Rhode Island metro wearing saffron sarongs… wait wrong group…) I just want to know about getting the dealers off my street. Also it is a little out of date.
Compare it with the Ward 8, site and like Barry, who is a major personality loved and loathed by many, has a very snazzy site. Barry only takes up about 1/8th of the opening page.
Anyways, I’m just sayin’….

Yesterday I puttered around in the backyard and then giving myself permission to rest I just sat and admired the greenery, the flowering plants, and the fullness of the pots. For the moment I took in the peace and quiet that was the back yard, with the absence of dealers ripping through the alley, or contractors banging away or the sounds of sirens. I pondered how well and lucky I am to have this little patch of greenery, a yard in which to create this garden space, and thought:

1. I am grateful everything grew and for the food thus far harvested.

2. I am grateful for front and back yards.

3. I am grateful for my crumbly pile of bricks I call home.

4. I am grateful for the DC Fiance Housing Authority that put me through hell to get a really great loan.

5. I am grateful for the wonderful and helpful neighbors who live on my block.

Weed trees are those trees and saplings that grow in between the fences that it seems no one wants. When I moved into my house I made it a goal to get rid of them as they blocked light and endangered part of the house.
The problem I notice is because the trees grow right on the property line, neither neighbor really wants to take responsibility for it. This scene was played out a few weekends ago when one large tree, growing between two yards had gotten so big that the branches reached across the alley and was invading another guy’s yard. The guy, let’s call Black Lawyer Guy, hired a crew to cut the branches that overflowed into the alley. The ruckus of tree cutting and crew yelling attracted the notice of Old Timer Guy on one side of the tree and New Neighbor Lady two houses down where the tree was hitting the side of her house. Yes, this is an F’ing large tree. So Black Lawyer Guy, Old Timer Guy and New Neighbor Lady were all having a nice loud cross alley conversation over the sounds of sawing about who’s tree was it that was getting trimmed.
Old Timer Guy insisted that the tree belonged to the other house and was not his. Then the conversation got into talking about a female neighbor (not present)who was mean and ill tempered. Was this the “owner” of the tree? Unknown, as there was only so much I did hear while trying to enjoy my own back yard.
Then as the crew was finishing up Bike Guy, neighbor of Old Timer Guy, came out and saw what was going on. Blah, blah between the neighbors,(can’t really hear that well) something about trimming the tree and Bike Guy said he’d do it later. New Neighbor Lady pointed out where the tree branches were damaging her house. And later Bike Guy (or a paid minion) did trim the tree, about a week later.
Unchecked the branches weed trees can invade other yards and considering how thin our plots are, that isn’t too hard. It is best to manage the problem early get rid of them while they are saplings. When they get bigger you may need a permit to chop them down.

please refrain from buying drugs in my hood.
Yeah, I called the cops but the blue flashing lights ventured elsewhere after I guess they grabbed the make and model, as I didn’t see anybody get out the car to check it out.
Sorry that whomever you thought you bought from robbed you of $1300. Wait. No I’m not sorry. Go back to Virginia and buy your crack there.

Well Giant is open. Shopping at 8am there is the way to go as there aren’t any crowds and it is okay provided you don’t need any seafood or fresh baked goods. Over in the $1 section are some throw away paint brushes. I usually grab a bunch of those when I know I’m going to tackle a paint job where I know I’m going to be too lazy to clean them and dry them out. They also have putty knives in the $1 section.
Across the aisle from the $1 items are the seasonal items. Among them, PINK FLAMINGOS!!! For less than $20 a pair of tacky, tacky pink flamingos can be yours. I think I may set a whole flock out in the yard. But I resisted. Besides I have a pair in the basement, they just need legs. They have the citronella candles. So far I’ve been keeping the mosquitoes at bay with lots of incense burning around me.
When I checked out the cashier, an older fellow who has been at the store for years, asked of I lived over on 14th. He asked because the Giant over at the Tivoli Theater in Columbia Heights will be opening soon and he’ll be working over there. He says it is the most modern Giant in the area, even more modern than the Giants out in the suburbs.

Well I’ve now committed to something where I will speak about what I’ve been doing off and on with researching the neighborhood demographics, so I need to clean up my work. I have figured I will focus on the street by street and house by house makeup of my area with 1880 and 1910 and possibly 1900. I’ve finished 1880, I just need to map it all out. I started 1910 because I cannot find the rolls I had for 1900. The Historic Society has 1900, I think, and that’s ok.
The problem I now have is there are streets on the 1880 and 1910 Census that don’t exist now. Second Street is one. Within the confines of what is Census tract 46 aka Truxton, there is no 2nd Street. But there is a 2nd street in the area claimed by the Census. There is also what looks like a Baltimore St. I say looks like, because apparently good legible handwriting was not important for some census workers. So I’m dealing with either a “Baltimore” or a “Biltmore”. Don’t even get me started on surnames.
Difference between 1880 and 1910, so far I’ve done the Mt. Vernon part of Truxton (N St, NY Ave, North Cap and NJ) and I can say there are fewer immigrants. But I’m sure they’ll pop up elsewhere. I am starting to see Russians and Chinese in Truxton in 1910. There were no Russians or Chinese in 1880.

I decided to look back at some of the houses I reviewed back in January of this year and compare them with the DC Government’s Real Estate sales database, which covers things sold up to mid March, and what I found makes me question the hot market. Of 6 houses that had open houses in early to mid January, 1 sold. The one house that did sell sold for $30K less than it’s listing price, for $430,000.
Of course the market is kinda slow in Winter. Then there were houses that were just plain overpriced. I mean I like Truxton and the surrounding areas but anything over 1/2 a mill has got to be one hell of a house. The neighborhood is still lacking in some areas. The things people want like a choice of restaurants, good parks, street corners without drug dealers, will come in time, but are not here now. So the prices should reflect that those things are currently lacking.
Of course, the houses that haven’t been listed as selling could be under contract. Possible. It would be interesting to see what price is the selling price. Are houses selling below the asking price? Are any above the asking price and by how much? What is the market saying? I guess I’ll have to wait to find out.