So Much Time

So much time has passed.. And I've decided that I should start posting again.

I am at Dulles Airport awaiting the arrival of my friends - we're off to GHANA for what promises to be quite the adventure.

More to follow ....

Drummin'

This was a drummin' day with Mamady Keita in Baltimore, Maryland. What and awesome experience - he is really something to behold!

I was happy to see my friend Kitty at the workshop - Kitty and I met in Jonathan Murray's hand drumming class at Howard County Recreation last fall.

First Snow

Today, Saturday December 5, was the first snow of Winter 2009. This is a park area just down the street from my apartment in Laurel.

On This Day - I drummed at Meridian Park

I drummed at Meridian Park today. The picture is from a couple of weeks ago. My hands hurt tonight.

Before the Harlem Renaissance

Last Friday night I went down to the Lincoln Theatre for a wonderful performance about U Street and its influence on the Harlem Renaissance. Appropriately it was called "Before the Harlem Renaissance there was U Street." I have wanted to go to the Lincoln Theatre since it reopened – and this presented a wonderful opportunity.

At the will call window, my ticket was lost but my reservation was not. So I was given a seating pass and proceeded inside. I arrived early and the theatre was not open yet, so the crowd waited in the lobby area. I was struck immediately with a feeling of the fifties or maybe early sixties back in Sanford, Florida where I was born and raised. Here I was in the middle of Washington feeling particularly out of place – one of a few white faces in a sea of African American ones. Mind you, I did not feel uncomfortable, but rather mindful of a time and place from my youth – only with a feeling reversal.

I found my seat a few minutes later and next to me was a wonderful gentleman, Edward from Baltimore. He asked how I came to be at the Lincoln. I told him of my fascination with the Harlem Renaissance, of Zora Neale Hurston and Eatonville a few miles from my hometown, about how I was moved by the poetry of Langson Hughes and how reading W.E.B DuBois influenced my thinking as a young adult. We talked about our childhoods – mine growing up in the segregated south and his as a black man growing up in Crisfield, Maryland. Our stories were so different – our growth and experiences as a result of these childhood experiences, however, were surprisingly similar.

The performance was wonderful – music and dance from a bygone era – and a legacy that lives on.

Metro Rail - Aftermath Ride

Last Thursday I took my first Metro ride since the crash earlier in the week. As I drove to the station I was thinking that I should probably avoid the first and last cars on the train. Little did I know that everyone had the same idea - the middle cars were packed - standing room only, but you could get a good seat in the forward car! That evening there was a story on the local Washington news channel about folks avoiding the first and last cars on the Metro!

Saturday I am going back on Metro to Eastern Market to explore the opening of the new market building. I think I should get over my phobia about first and last cars and go for one where I can get a seat.

I've been riding metro since 1979 when I moved to this area the first time. I haven't lost my love of this means of getting around the city. Metro is truly a marvel and last Monday's accident was that - a horrible and tragic accident. With what we've learned in the aftermath, the woman driving that train is a true hero - It appears that she knew what was about to happen and did everything in her power to avoid it. It cost her everything.

Cheesesteak in South Philly

While exploring southeast Pennsylvania earlier this week, my daughter Cheryl and I ended up in Philadelphia. After a visit to the Liberty Bell and other downtown sights, Cheryl said she wanted to follow up on determining the best Philly cheesesteak sandwich. She had seen an challenge, probably on the Cooking Channel, about dueling sandwich stands, Geno’s and Pat's King of Steaks in south Philly. So we headed out walking from downtown – past South Street and through the Italian markets to cheesesteak central – Genio’s on one side of 9th Street and Pat’s on the other.

Not knowing which to choose we assessed the situation and determined that the line was longest at Pat's. So it was off to Pat’s where we ordered up a steak with wiz, mushrooms, and peppers (Cheryl said that wiz was the only authentic way to go). You order and pay for your sandwich at one window and then proceed down to the next one for drinks, fries and such. It was around 1:00PM on a Tuesday afternoon and not an empty table in sight … so we waited and snagged one as some folks were finishing up. It was an awesome and delightful artery clogging sandwich, I must admit.

When we finished, we walked across the street to Genio’s – and wouldn't you know it, we decided we would never know which was the best unless we tried both…so we ordered another…identical to the one we had just consumed.

It didn’t take our jury of two long to decide the verdict – hands down it is Pat’s King of Steaks!