uploaded to flickr.com by thisisbossi
Ah, April — that most unpredictable of months when it comes to weather, special elections, and DC special events. Our house is an older row house, so the warmer weather brings not just flowers in our garden but a few many-legged insects that appear (literally) out of the woodwork, scaring the bejeezus out of me when I turn on the bathroom light or head to the basement for laundry. I suppose they are all waking up from a winter’s slumber and finding a cooler place to hide for the summer. Maybe not a bad idea…
So my friends and neighbors, what have we learned this month?
We learned that April showers bring torrential rain, lighting, thunder-hail, and downed trees. We will have to wait and see if the May flowers are felling lucky enough to show their faces.
We learned our writers and readers enjoy a sweet treat now and then, and that many are anxiously awaiting the opening of the anticipated bakeries and shops in the neighborhood. These include Pitango Gelato on 7th Street SE near Eastern Market and both Hello Cupcake and the Sweet Lobby on Barracks Row. Rumor has it there may be other bakeries in the works as well. Now if we can only get an old-fashioned candy shop somewhere…
We learned that some of our elected leaders are willing to go to jail to call attention to DC’s lack of representation in Congress. Many of our readers weighed in on whether they felt DC should be granted statehood. Some suggested we just do away with taxes and forget about representation too. Perhaps we can just declare Ward 6 a sovereign state and have Tommy Wells as our king. Wellslandia sounds like a fun place to live. Plus monarchies get way more press these days than democracies.
We learned you really can’t put a sandbox in your tree box. According to one commenter, you can however set up a full bar in a municipal park.
We’ve heard about the planned redevelopment of the Hine School, and that the process is seeking community feedback. Folks seem to have concerns about increased traffic and a lack of public green space. DC just approved online gambling so perhaps Hine would be a perfect site for the District’s first bricks-and-mortar casino. “EMMCA’s Palace” could be a great revenue stream for the tiny province of Wellslandia.
We learned the Hill is practically one giant swap meet, thanks to the trash-to-treasure hunt that occurs each trash day. I’m not judging — we were the lucky recipients of a nice toddler chair I found one night while walking the dog. A few knowledgeable readers did chime in reminding us not to repurpose plants or animals though.
What will next month bring? More acts of civil disobedience? Thunder-snows in May? And what will the Wellslandia flag look like? Tune in to find out.