blink, and you'll miss it

i blink. in fact, i blink a lot -- it's good for keeping my eyes moist, which in turn, helps to keep my contacts in, all of which aid in making sure that i can see.

okay anyway, as i was saying... blink, and you'll miss it. have you missed it? i blinked, but i didn't miss it.

monday was march 20th, also known as the first day of spring. in dc, spring -- though you'd expect it to be marked by Hill staffers busting out pastel-colored clothing instead of the drab, brownish-blackish-grayish overcoats that they've been sporting since october -- is actually marked by 30-degree weather. last week, mother nature celebrated the end of winter with 80-degree weather. somehow, somewhere in here, i'm missing the logic. please explain? however, i do have hope. i've seen people daring to wear flip-flops (yaaaaay, toes get to BREATHE!), and the daffodils, despite being frigidly cold, are standing their ground and showing off their blooms. you go guys. :)

spring is also marked, apparently, by SWARMS of tourists. i've lived in this large metropolitan area for almost 9 months now, which in dc-terms, makes me a local. seriously. so being the local that i am, i've taken on the responsibility of acting like one too. and this means that i get to glare furiously at the squealing mother, husband, and 4 young kids who find themselves squished (duh) on the Metro at 8:30am (good god, why are you voluntarily awake at 8:30am) on their way to the museums and tourist-y sites. the 4 blond kids fall wayward as the metro train comes to a halting stop, and the mother, trying desperately to hold onto the youngest one, yells at the other 3 to be careful and stay nearby as they bounce off of the other riders and collapse into briefcases and newspapers. the husband, looking bemused and apologetic, just watches. the rest of the people on the train -- us locals who are neither bemused nor apologetic -- glare. because we're either sleeping or reading or trying not to think about the full day of work ahead of us. swarms of tourists, i tell you. and i thought the asian ones with peace signs and cameras at mit were bad...

so the swarms of tourists come to dc because of 2 things. maybe 3. the first: cherry blossoms! apparently, the cherry blossoming trees in dc are quite nice, and people will travel hundreds of miles just to see cherry blossoms. please keep in mind that these trees, which have a backstory of being associated with japan (which doesn't make sense, 'cause aren't they supposed to hate dc due to evil gov't rulings and atomic bombs way back when?), have "peak bloom time" this week. therefore, swarms of tourists pack the trains to see blooming trees..... and no, they're not real cherries.... second reason: the tourist sites! if you're in town for the blooms, why not stay longer for the museums? and phallic symbols in town? okay okay, maybe this is what local parisians feel like. i sympathize with you all, my apologies. pardon-moi, j'espère que je n'étais pas trop gênant quand j'ai visité. possible reason #3: tourists feel patriotic. i'm still working on this one.

... which leads me to point #2 in "blink, and you'll miss it". in addition to being the first day of a hopefully-glorious spring 2006, march 20th was also the third -- yes, 3rd -- anniversary of our not-so-glorious war in iraq. bush-man is continues to repeat his also-not-so-glorious-or-logical logic in speeches to the masses, and cheney&co. continue to look grumpy. we're on the verge of a civil war? so what? saddam hussein is succeeding at making his trial look absolutely ridiculous? so what? so what -- to people still dying left and right and front and back, to the defense budget for FY06 and FY07 having helped to create the largest budget deficit ever, to all the other (more important) issues -- domestic AND foreign -- being ignored and disregarded in the name of liberty, freedom, and democracy. ahh, it's noble but it's entirely ridiculous. dare i hope that we don't reach a 4th anniversary?

come look at the blooming cherries instead.

i bet you didn't miss st. patrick's day last friday though. green beer is amazingly green. i'll post a picture sometime. :) green beer -- or really, smelly climbing shoes, movies, lunch outings, runs, etc -- is best when experienced with a good group of friends. :)

the last days of march also signify one other thing. for me. it means that april is nearby, may is soon, and june is officially looming. i need to hunker down and figure things out. but first, happy friday :)