Floods, mudslides, and walking amongst trees.

Washingon D.C. has declared a state of emergency, and is asking people to avoid the downtown area. Fortunately I am in a suburb that has been relatively unaffected by the flooding and mudslides! Looks like I might not make it to the Smithsonian, *sigh*.

Reston Virginia, where I'm staying and working, it is a typically sterile suburb with cookie-cutter townhouses, highways, and hotels. One feature I like about it is a pedestrian/runner/cyclist path that runs underneath a set of high-tension power lines and connects my hotel with the office I'm working at. This means I can still walk to work, a very reasonable 30 minute stroll. The power lines, while obtrusive, do provide a nice wide swath of undergrowth between the path and the rest of cookie-cutter land. It helps; I need to walk amongst trees every day.