Celebrations

This was a weekend filled with celebrations of two very different types. On Saturday, we celebrated the successful running of the 139th Preakness Stakes. It was the perfect afternoon – mostly sunny, cool and a little breezy. While I hadn’t quite hopped on the California Chrome bandwagon, and had my heart set on Ride On Curlin, I was thrilled to see Chrome win and possibly become a Triple Crown winner.

A group of us gathered to watch the race, which took place about two miles from us, as the crow flies. I was especially pleased to hear Chrome’s owner praising the hospitality they received in Maryland and saying that Churchill Downs could take lessons from us! It would be great to have another Triple Crown winner, since the last one was in 1978!

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The other celebration this weekend was the celebration of the life of our friend Larry, who died on Friday. It was a rather impromptu event, which started in the beautiful park just blocks from his house. Larry was a huge supporter of the neighbourhood and Mount Vernon Place is one of its treasures.

The centerpiece of the four squares is the currently-under renovation Washington Monument.

Friends of Larry’s took turns speaking and recalling their memories of life with Larry, and recounting the friends who were the family which he chose. There were laughs and there were tears, especially when one musical friend played the old ballad, Those Were the Days, which was completely fitting.

In a scant 48 hours, mostly over the weekend, our friends managed to get a major bus route re-routed, and a busy street closed off for a block party to celebrate Larry.

Friends congregated on the “stoop” where Larry held court at all hours of the day. A slide show flicked through images of Larry, most of them full of laughs and smiles. Friends’ children played in the street and the echoes of laughter ricocheted between the elegant buildings on the street.

I was struck by the various styles of architecture on this one block, and snapped some pictures of the detail on the building next to Larry’s house.

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I am working on a new e-mail system, so if you receive this twice, some of the bugs are still being worked out. I have discontinued the Feedburner system and moved to MailChimp, but there may be a bit of an overlap while one stops and the other starts. Thanks for your patience.