My D.C.

You may have noticed that I have chosen not to write about much of what has been going on here in D.C. during the last few months.  I have not covered the changes in the atmosphere throughout the city caused by the pandemic and subsequent shutdowns that began back in March.  I have covered neither the numerous peaceful protests nor the great many violent riots that have been intermittently occurring since late May when a man named George Floyd died during an encounter with police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that went horribly and tragically wrong.  And I have not been covering any activities pertaining to the campaigning and today’s election.  And with many parts of the city now boarded up in anticipation of probable widespread civil unrest subsequent to the election, making many parts of the city appear as if it is located in a third world country that is in the midst of a civil war, I will not be covering that either.  

And the reason I am not writing about these things is because they are frequently so ugly that it has caused me to barely recognize the city where I have been for the last three decades.  They do not represent this city.  And they are not representative of the majority of the people of this city.  They are certainly not representative of my D.C.

I am hopeful that things will change soon.  I look forward to the development and approval of therapeutics and vaccines that will allow our country and the world to put the coronavirus behind us.  I am hopeful that reforms and improvements can be made to address the concerns of those who are protesting.  And I hope a lack of protests will take away the cover that has been provided to the opportunistic rioters and looters who hurt so many people and damaged so many businesses.  And with the finalization of the election results, whenever that occurs, I hope this city and our country will be able to move forward to a less divisive and more respectful era.

In the meantime, I will continue riding a bike around D.C. to visit the more traditional attractions as well as the off-the-beaten-path sites this city has to offer.  I will take a few snapshots along the way.  And then I will use this blog to post the photos and write about what I see, what I learn, and what I think about while I continue exploring our nation’s capital one ride at a time.