Grant Circle Vehicular Tree Slaughter
What death looks like close up
Recently I came across a crime scene in Grant Circle, and I am saddened and angered by its result – a needless death. One of the young trees was cut down in its prime by yet another speeding driver who drove through, instead of around, Grant Circle.
This vehicular tree slaughter took the life of a promising sapling. It also took any innocence that a person, or child, could be the next victim of a careless driver in Petworth.
Where are reflectors, rumble strips, speed humps, or at least working park lights – to slow drivers down and alert them that Grant Circle is ahead? Do we really need to graduate from vehicular tree slaughter to vehicular manslaughter before we get slowing on New Hampshire Avenue?
Read MoreSpring Clean: A New Back Yard
Out with the weeds!
It took three truck-bending trips, but I just removed six thousand (6,000!) pounds of concrete from the back yard of my house. This was just the beginning of the rebirth of my lawn from post-industrial wasteland into a green oasis of beauty and serenity.
I did not start out to move so much concrete. At first, I just wanted to take out the sidewalk along my fence line, and replace it with a meandering path between a flower bed paralleling the fence, and through a yard of lush green grass. But with any household improvement, sh*t happened.
Read MoreHanalei Speaks Her First Words!
Listen to me already!
Its with great joy and surprise that I’m proud to announce that Hanalei Stockard Vota is now talking. Yes, she is speaking at 3 months old – a record for any of our families. While she’s not quite saying whole sentences, if you listen to her on this video, you can tell she’s making sense.
As her father, I’m so proud that she’s talking, its kinda hard for me to admit that I don’t always agree with what she says.
Read MoreTime for a Spring Haircut
Whoa! How did that happen?
As a young man, I enjoyed long hair. Midway down my back in a long pony-tail, my hair signified my membership in the surfer tribe. We were the beach bums who could grow our hair long and enjoy the day, unrestricted by convention or conformity.
Fast forward a few years, and my hair was short – clipped to get my first job and kept short thereafter for ease as much as employment. In Russia, I started spiking my hair up, but by this century, it was time to leave youth and keep it short and contained.
Read MoreCalming Grant Circle Car Crashes
Grany Circle from space
As drivers speed along New Hampshire Avenue in Petworth, they come to Grant Circle – which is often a surprise by the number of cars that crash through the park. Almost on a weekly basis, each weekend morning shows us that driving fast at night through our neighbourhood will get you a parking space in Grant Circle.
I wonder: what can we do to slow drivers down, to stop the madness before we loose more than a fire hydrant or a tree.
Read More