Cherry Blossoms in DC

Finally, blue skies, a good camera and time all converged yesterday. I braved the wind and the crowds and took plenty of pictures of cherry blossoms in Washington DC.

Here are a few of the photos.











These trees add beauty to a boring government building ... almost.



The National Mall ... America's backyard.

Pre-Inauguration Photos 2

This is the 'blue line' that many of us heard about during traffic reports last week. The middle lane of Pennsylvania Avenue was closed while crews painted this line. The inaugural parade follows this line to the glass-enclosed presidential reviewing stand you see in the distance.


Here it is up close.



There will be plenty of security tomorrow.



and, of course, barricades.




And miles of portable restrooms.



Plus posted directions and opinions.

Pre-Inauguration Photos 1

There is a huge, multi-artist, FREE concert at the Lincoln Memorial this afternoon. I took this photo yesterday as Bruce Springsteen was rehearshing a song with a choir.


Bono, Beyonce, Garth Brooks, James Taylor and many others are scheduled to perform and HBO will play the concert back tonight.

On Tuesday, these seats will be full and both the outgoing and incoming Presidents will be on the platform.



That rectangular thing with the colorful vertical stripes is one of 20 giant screen TVs being set up on the Mall. Many (most?) of the estimated 2 million people coming to Washington for the inauguration will see Barack Obama take the Oath of Office on these screens.



The National Mall was relatively empty Saturday but it will be a sea of people on Tuesday.



The police have a monumental task ahead of them on Tuesday.

Church Tour in Middletown

I'm not particular religious, but I am fascinated by churches.



I recently had the opportunity to see the inside of this one in Middletown, Maryland. This shot is an interior view of part of the stained glass window in the photo above:



The view from the pulpit:



A side window:



A closeup of the crest on the altar.



Stand up and sing.



Visit my other photo site for more exterior and interior views.

Moon Over Rockville

The moon was bright and full tonight. Moonrise was just after sunset and I brought my camera to work to take pictures of it. These were taken from a balcony next to a conference room overlooking Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland.



Bonus shot looking up the street:

Circles and More Circles

The Theme Day theme this month for City Daily Photo sites is circles and spheres. I was stumped at first - where would I find a unique circle in Middletown, Maryland for my Middletown Daily Photo blog? The clock on the Mt. Zion Church steeple? Been there, done that. A tire? Ho hum.

So I dug through some Middletown photos from the past few months in search of circles and stumbled upon playground equipment in the park. My Daily site has the 'official' photo. Here are a few more:






And here is the older shot that inspired the rest:

Leftover Fall Shots

I posted many fall photos on my Middletown Daily Photo site. Here are a few extras.