But let's not forget the good part of the weekend.
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Originally uploaded by KierDuros.
Among all the water woes and rearranged plans, there was many a bright spot in my weekend.
Most of them were courtesy of kelowna, mreraser and assorted others.
When my original plans for going out and balancing out the crappy way Friday started fell through, mreraser was kind enough to cart me around with him, Val and kelowna. Even the four or so hours I spent wandering around Dupont Circle between when I got out of work and when he rolled in to town were pretty good. There's a lot that goes on near that fountain. Everyone should spend a few hours there some time.
Eventually, we ended up at Mango Mike's and then another bar when they chased us off the deck there.
As if often the case, I'm the odd man out with a lot of that crew. I'm new to town and don't really care about music and don't consider myself really part of any scene. I just sit and absorb the stories of long ago. I bask in the close ties working to bring vibrant events to life has made among people.
I just simply admire the amount of passion that's accrued over the years--be it blissful joy or vehement disgust. It excites me.
It also make me look back at my own life and see that there has only been a few years where I had anything even close to that. It reminds me that what we create--what we care about--has impacts far beyond what we desire or imagine.
Those ideas were reinforced on Saturday when I joined a slightly different group for a wander around Georgetown--an odd re-visiting of the first time I really hung out with kelowna.
That Georgetown wander was followed by an excursion to the Navy Yard area of southeast DC, where Chiaroscuro and Nation used to be. It's all construction zone now, but there are still echoes of the fun that was had. Perhaps it was especially acute because I was there with people who had put so much hard work--literal blood, sweat and tears--into making good things happen there.
I had vague memories of my first time at Chiaroscuro. But found myself marveling more at how much little things can change our perception of ourselves and the world around us. How a subtle change in someone's posture or a twitch of their cheek can offer a glimpse at what's going on deep inside of them. And how quickly that glimpse can be obscured when the present re-asserts itself.
It was a good weekend. I was reminded of why I miss some people. And I was inspired in many ways.
Now let's see if I can make all of that pay off over the next week or so.