Postcards from the Edge

I went to Walmart this week. I rarely go to Walmart. I'm a Target person. One of the things I miss right now is going to Target and wandering, with no actual purchasing needs in mind. As one of my friends recently asked on Facebook, do you think Target misses me?

Anyway, I went to Walmart because, according to their online in-store stock listings, both of the Walmarts by me (there are two within a ten minutes in either direction) had paper towels in stock. Having a cat who occasionally eats too fast and throws up his breakfast means I need paper towels. So I decided to brave Walmart, get paper towels and pick up a few cleaning items I needed if they had them. I also ended up with Blue Bell ice cream; whatever deity is guiding us must have known what was going to happen at the end of my trip so she made sure Walmart was fully stocked with my favorite brand of ice cream.

My Walmart experience was actually better than the other stores I've been to. They have tape on the floor every six feet for you to stand at when waiting in line, aisles have directional arrows, and they're limiting the number of people inside. Walmart is also larger so it didn't feel like I was cramped in with people. They were fairly well stocked; some of the usual suspects were out, but what can we do with people unnecessarily hoarding flour and yeast? I walked to the checkout lines feeling like this was the best trip to Walmart of my entire life. And then I got into the line. It wasn't the waiting in line that got me. It was what happened while I was in line.

In front of me was a couple; I'm not sure what their relationship to one another was. With everyone wearing masks, it's harder to tell age, but they were either a young mother and her older son or maybe nephew or a couple couple. My guess is mother and son; I think he was in his late teens and she was a younger mom. In front of them was a woman by herself, probably a few years older than me. When I got in the line they were exchanging some heated words, and it escalated from there. The couple was standing within their six feet distanced box, but she asked him to move back more. He did, but it wasn't good enough for her. She started yelling at them, calling them all sorts of obscenities, including the c-word. Loudly, in line at Walmart. The guy said something back, but I couldn't hear it clearly with the mask, and that set her off even more. No one did anything, so of course, I had to say something. I asked them both to ignore each other and stay in their lane (literally). The single woman told me to eff off and stay out it. I told her it's hard to stay out of something when you're yelling loudly at people who aren't doing anything wrong. She called me a bitch. The guy started to say something to her, and she responded by taking things from his cart and throwing them at him. A Walmart employee finally stopped, asking me what was going on. I explained, he got another employee (maybe a manager?) who asked me some questions. By the time, he showed up, the woman stopped and the couple was quiet. The two Walmart guys stayed in the aisles nearby until the woman checked out (buying cigarettes and one of those customizable light boxes people use for motivational sayings). I finally got through the line and drove home, having spent two hours of my life at Walmart getting yelled at by a stranger.

When this week started, I was determined to have a good week. The week prior had been my week of feeling like I was failing at everything and accomplishing nothing. Everyone has probably had this exact week or day since staying at home. I wanted to start the week off strong, focusing on getting some tough work tasks completed, and finding something fun to do that wasn't binge watching past seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race (although I really enjoyed re-watching Season 6). I considered a few things: taking up long distance walks (the weather didn't really cooperate this week), reorganizing my craft room, going through my CDs again. None of these things seemed right. What I realized is that they were all about me, and what I was craving was something that would be about connecting with other people.

I decided to send postcards.

I have just over 100 postcards that I've purchased and saved over the years. Whenever I travel, I buy a few cards to send immediately and a few to bring home. The cards have been sitting in a box for years, taking up space and without purpose. So I decided to send postcards to people. I love sending and receiving mail. I've kept every postcards I've ever received since my dad sent me my first postcard in 1987. The Postal Museum is one of my favorite museums. And of course, the US Postal Service is in danger of closing. The 45 will bail out cruise lines, but not an essential service like the Post Office, which is actually in the Constitution. It just shows you how little the 45 knows about the governing document of this country.

But let's not ruin things by talking about him.

After I settled on the idea of sending postcards, my mind started to work as it does. In addition to the 100 travel postcards, I found over 40 plain brown cards I use for Groundhog Day cards. I decided to make some unique cards to send to people as well. Since Monday, I've made six embroidered cards (something I've been wanting to do forever), some stamped cards, cards with stuff I didn't use for Nyx purses, and I'm in the process of making glitter cards. Some of these cards were designed with specific people in mind; most were not. My plan is to send at least one card to everyone in my address book. Once I've gone through everyone, I'll start again until I run out of cards to send.

Since announcing this plan, I've gotten addresses from people I only really talk to online (friends from high school and college, a former coworker I haven't spoken to in four years), and requests from people who don't want a card for themselves, but for someone in their life who could use a little cheering up during this time. Other people have decided to send cards too, placing online orders for stamps and helping to support the Post Office one card at a time. I got my first card in the mail yesterday, from Anita, who also loves sending postcards.

As I recounted the Walmart story during to my friends during our virtual wine and crafts day yesterday, I worked on these handmade cards. Each stitch and shake of glitter is a way of erasing a little bit of the ugly of my Walmart encounter. We all have to make a lot of choices right now. It's a choice to yell at people and throw paper towels at them in the middle of a Walmart. It's a choice to call a stranger who was only trying to help a bitch. It's a choice to protest stay at home orders that are meant to keep people safe, and not seeing the irony in wearing masks while doing so. It's a choice to follow the physical distancing guidelines and wear masks in public places. It's a choice to be angry at a person for having a tantrum in public. It's a choice to let it go and realize you don't know what's going on in their life right now and being angry at them isn't going to solve anything. It's a choice to send a postcard to a friend or a stranger to let them know someone is thinking about them.

I'm choosing to send postcards.

Question for loyal Island readers: I participated in National Novel Writing Month for the last time in 2016. I finished my novel Transient Suburbia, and have worked on it on and off since finishing. I let a few friends read the entire novel, but haven't really done much with it since mid-2017. I shared a few chapters here on the Island during NaNoWriMo. My question is: would you want to read the entire novel, a chapter or two at a time over the next several weeks? I want to do something with this novel. I love it very much, but have been hesitant to do anything with it outside of sharing it with friends. Sharing it here, a few chapters at a time, feels like a fun way for us to pass the time together and you can let me know if you like it or not. Share you thoughts in the comments!

DC Days: See It Before It's Gone

My family moved to northern Virginia when I was in the 7th grade. I started school right after winter break so smack dab in the middle of the school year. This is the worst thing ever for a military kid. By mid-year, everyone already has their groups of friends and their lunch table. Being the new kid is not anything like the movies: you are not mysterious (especially in the 7th grade), your accent is not charming, and no one cares about where you used to live. So I totally lucked out by making two wonderful friends within the first few days of starting at Lake Braddock. And thankfully, I have stayed friends with them. We've had our ups and downs as all friendships do but we've made it through it all and still like one another. That's pretty cool in my book.

When I proposed DC Days to a few friends, Anita was the first person to reply that she was in for a day. I expected this and also figured she'd be one of the first to actually plan her day. This seemed fitting given that she was one of my first friends here and we've always shared a love of the city even though it also infuriates us on occasion. To recap the plan: each of my friends plan a day for me in the DC area complete with activities, restaurants/bars/cafes, and I will document the adventure here on the Island so other people can enjoy the fun on their own DC Day. Anita came up with a theme: See It Before It's Gone (this will become clear as I go through the day). There's also a secondary theme about the US Postal Service.

The itinerary:

• The Old Post Office Pavilion 

• The National Aquarium DC

• The US Postal Museum

Onward we tour!

Stop 1: Welcome to the nation's first superfluous building
I believe that Anita is a Metro good luck charm. Both times I have taken Metro with her in recent months there has been some kind of weird routing or need to take a bus for part of our trip. Like the last time, we had perfect Metro timing and no crazy anything. She must be a Metro whisperer.

We headed to Federal Triangle to get to our first stop of the day, the Old Post Office Pavilion. I've been to this building many times (this is what happens when you move somewhere that every member of your family wants to see) but it's been years. Anita has also been but had never been up in the Tower. The Tower is impressive - you can see all over DC and into Arlington from the top. It's a gorgeous view.

The Tower also houses the Bells of Congress, which are rung at the start and end of sessions and federal holidays. It's run by the Park Service and the Washington Ringing Society, a volunteer group, are responsible for bell ringing. The building was the first federal building on Pennsylvania Avenue and the first government building to house its own power plant. Originally built as the Postal Department Headquarters, it fell into disuse and disrepair in the 1930s and was set to be razed but it was saved as it became home to many government agencies during the Great Depression. In the 1970s, Nancy Hanks, chairwoman of the NEA, spearheaded a restoration project for the building. Shops and restaurants make up most of what's open to the public today and some government offices still remain.

It's a stunning building from the outside complete with a statue of Benjamin Franklin (the nation's first Postmaster General) and our spirit guide for the day (Ben pops up everywhere). Here's the most important thing you need to know about the Old Post Office - Donald Trump just finalized a deal to redevelop the building.

Did your heart just sink a bit? Mine did when Anita told me this in the lead up to yesterday's trip. The deal was just approved by Congress. Trump will spend something like $200 million to renovate and add to the building including a spa and hotel. Now since the building is a historic landmark, he can't tear it down or make changes to the exterior so the beauty of the building will at least be intact. But as Anita and I discussed yesterday over lunch in the food court after our trip up to the Tower, what will he do with the interior and the local businesses that make up the few remaining shops and restaurants? Several have already chosen to close their doors in reaction to the deal. Does it take away from the character of the building if there's a Subway, a Starbucks, and a McDonald's? Or could it be more like Union Station where the chains don't feel out of place and don't take away from the beauty or history of the building?

We won't really know what the future of the Old Post Office Pavilion will be until the Trump begins this project but we can hope that he'll heed the words of Nancy Hanks: "Old buildings are like old friends. They reassure people in times of rapid change. They encourage people to dream about their cities - to think before they build, to consider alternatives before they tear down." (from the Park Service hand out).

With that thought in our minds, we moved onto our next stop of the day.

Stop 2: Feed me Seymour
This may come as a bit of surprise to many of you but there is a tiny National Aquarium in DC. It's located in the basement of the Commerce Building on 14th and Constitution (not too far from the Old Post Office Pavilion and right off the National Mall). The Commerce Building seems like an unlikely place for an aquarium but that's where it is. The National Aquarium opened in 1873 as the nation's first public aquarium and moved to the Commerce Building in 1932. The tiny aquarium will close its doors on September 30 so you only have a few weeks to visit.

This is the smallest aquarium I have ever been to. As we entered the building and started walking down the blue stairway, I thought of entering Ripley's Believe or Not, like I was descending into some sort of weird basement of oddities. No oddities here just your standard aquarium displays featuring aquatic life from all over the globe. You can get through the exhibit in about 20 minutes if it's not crowded (which it was on Saturday) or if you don't get distracted by a baby turtle and it's mom swimming. This happened to us - I have never seen anything as cute as a baby turtle learning to swim. He sort of rode around on his mom's back and then would swim a little on his own and then rush back to mom. Adorable. We were also there in time for the shark feeding. I felt sort of bad for the guy doing the shark feeding; he came out before to share some facts about the sharks on display and to explain that this wouldn't be the feeding frenzy people were probably expecting. No one was really listening and several people were being a little obnoxious (Side note: It is not cool to say that a crying child should be thrown into the shark tank. Some d-bag behind us did just that and it was not funny.).

Anyway, as the guy was giving his talk all I could think was "Feed Me Seymour" from the musical Little Shop of Horrors. The sharks just wanted to be fed and the people wanted a shark feeding frenzy. This was compounded by a guitarfish that started swimming behind the guy (who I called Seymour) as if he were performing for the crowd. Once the feeding actually started, it was sort of a let down. Most of the sharks just sort of bumped into each other and the sun starfish moved a quarter of inch.





My favorite part of this stop was the lighting fixture outside of the building. The design includes bats. Anita told me this was a symbol of good luck which totally seems legit. I can actually understand why this aquarium is closing (all the aquatic life are moving to Baltimore). It's in a weird place and seems sort of sad. The fish even seem a little bored. I don't know if I'd go out of my way to come here but if you're in the area between now and September 30, it's worth stopping by if only to say that you went to the first public aquarium in the nation which also happens to be in the Commerce Building. If you catch a shark feeding, be nice to Seymour (not his name) and give him a little attention while he's giving his "tour".

Stop 3: What do taxidermy, Benjamin Franklin, and the Pony Express all have in common?
Our final stop of the day was actually the one I was most looking forward to visiting. Anita and I both share a love of postcards and receiving actual physical mail from people (that doesn't include bills or junk mail). She sends postcards to people monthly. I am not as dedicated as she is so I only send them when I'm traveling or get the idea that I need to write to someone. There's something so personal and delightful about receiving a letter or postcard in the mail. And also romantic. For years, Anita has talked about starting a National Postcard Month and I'm hoping that this year it happens. I will help in any way I can.

Anita described the Postal Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institute) as "adorable". I would totally agree with that description. Everything is on one floor and designed in such as way that you can see everything in a few hours (probably two if you wanted to read everything). The exhibits are interactive (we got several postcards stamped) and you can try sorting mail and playing a game that includes zip codes. I now know what each number in a a zip code represents. I'm not going to tell you because you should go to the museum and find out for yourself. There's even an exhibit on the Pony Express (one of my favorites). The museum will open a new stamp gallery later this month so I'll have to go back to check that out too.
 

We also happened upon Owney, the mascot of the Albany, NY post office from 1887-1897. In addition to a statue of Owney as you enter the museum, he's also actually there. Owney was preserved after his death and now resides in teh museum near the train exhibit. You can also view all the medal and tags he received during his time of service. I have to admit that the taxidermy version of Owney was a little creepy but the medals were interesting and more importantly, I liked the idea of Owney. Definitely harkens back to a time where the Post Office mattered.

This museum was my favorite part of the day. It was fun and very hands-on with some different exhibits - there's currently one that focuses on mail service on the Titanic and Hindenburg disasters called "Fire & Ice". I also enjoyed the anniversary exhibit mostly because of this:

I learn something new everyday. The other nice thing about the location of the Postal Museum is that it is next door to Union Station, a favorite building of mine. Union Station is currently undergoing some renovations but it's still magnificent and a great place to end a long day of touring around DC> Anita and I enjoyed crepes and discussed our day.

While the Postal Museum isn't in danger of closing anytime soon, the mail and more specifically, the art of letter writing, is dying before our eyes. Everyone wants everything immediately and even though we're not sending mail by Pony Express anymore, even a few days is too long for some. Both Anita and I hate to think of living in a time when we wouldn't be able to send something as simple as a postcard to someone. E-mail just isn't the same. Do yourself a favor and visit the Postal Museum and then go home and write someone a letter (and don't forget to mail it). You can even buy stamps at the museum if you need them.

Thanks to Anita for being the inaugural DC Day planner! Information on how to get to each place we visited is listed below and the links to the locations appear at the top of the post. I leave you with a few more photos from our day.

Get out there and enjoy the city!

How to get there:

Metro: 

• Federal Triangle (for both the Pavilion and the aquarium)

• Union Station (for the Postal Museum

NOTE: Metro is doing rebuilding on the red line so you may have to take a bus to and from Union Station. Get off at Judiciary Square and buses will be waiting.

Cost of the day:

• Admission to the National Aquarium DC: $9.95 (adult); $4.95 (children 3 and up)  
• Lunch: $18 for two combos at Quick Pita at the Old Post Office Pavilion Crepes: $10 at Crepe Lena (nutella and raspberry is divine)  
• Metro: $5.70 per person (total for the day)