It Must be February

Of all the months in the year, February is the worst. Grey, lifeless, no-leaf, dismal, cold, dead-of-winter February. Yuk.

Looking back at my last post is something that depresses even me! I blame February. I hate February. Always have. Always will. They should just cancel February and add those days to March. March is a month of renewal and hope. Springtime. Warmer days, the first flower blossoms. A sign of better things to come, like vacations and beaches and suntans.

Well, today I felt better. It was a wonderful, sunny 56-degree day, although it felt warmer than that. After ZipCar-ing up to Maryland to show my rental home to a wonderful woman (I hope she takes it!), I came home and took a long walk. I finally went up to the George Washington Masonic National Monument for the first time. It sits atop a hill overlooking Alexandria, from King Street station to the Potomac, about a mile from home. It's the one tall structure in Alexandria that you can see for miles, and it's lit up at night like the Chrysler building. (If you ever need to find the Amtrak station, just head for this tower.)

Tomorrow my friend Rashmi (from Laurel) and I are meeting downtown to tour the Crime & Punishment Museum. We signed up for a CSI lab workshop afterward, something I've been looking forward to for a couple weeks. We'll be learning about fingerprints, footprints, and imprints. I already got through the chapter about fingerprint ridges in my Criminal Investigations class, but that's not the same as doing it in real life! It should be fun.

Unfortunately, Crime Scene Night for my class was cancelled last week. My teacher broke her leg and ankle on the ice. (That now makes three people in our small class of 10 on crutches.) So Crime Scene Night is slated for this coming Monday, Feb. 9th. I should be well-prepared after my trip to the Crime Museum tomorrow. Let's hope this weather holds up. Everyone needs cheering up these days, myself included!

Although, on a sad note, the famous Peeler Guy (Joe Ades) of Union Square in Manhattan died last week. My brother Dave passed on the news to me. I was saddened by it. But I realize that Joe lived the kind of life we should all celebrate--he's the type of guy who never dies. I used to watch him sitting on a crate on the sidewalk in his suit, hawking his five-dollar vegetable peelers at Union Square, right across the street from the Petco on 16th Street, and sometimes at street fairs. He's a New York icon whose memory will live on in the hearts of millions. See a meaningful tribute written by David Galbraith.