Fire Drill

I anticipated a quiet, calm morning. EEEE, EEEE, EEEE, EEEE!!!! Ugh, is that for real? "Everybody out!" Oh great. Fire drill. Guess I'll bring my purse. Should I bring my iPod? Might as well, just in case. Man, these stairs are steep. Eek, it's awkward to make small talk with coworkers you don't know. "Oh, glad to hear you had a fun vacation." I have nothing else to say to you. But I think you're nice!

Luckily, it's gorgeous outside. This made me happy when I had to walk across the Mall to Natural History to deposit a check. The PETA people didn't bother me this time. They're always out there during the day, passing out flyers and talking to people. I never want a flyer, but until today they always chased me down to give me one despite my studious avoidance of eye contact with them. Today they left me alone. I rewarded them by pretending to read their posters. Once you've lived in this city for even a week you get so sick of people trying to hand you flyers and talk to you when you're on your way somewhere that you just stop looking strangers in the eye. They might want something!

I would like to iterate, and possibly reiterate, that the fire drill really messed with my morning. My cubicle can be such a cave when I want it to be and I was prepared to curl up in it all day today, only surfacing to eat lunch and maybe grab a cup of coffee from the break room. My hopes were dashed when that irritating siren shattered my reverie.

On my way back from Natch Hist (yup, that just happened), I saw a group of four eight-to-ten year-old boys skipping down the Mall. Literally. Skipping. That was pure awesome. Who just skips anymore? And there were no girls around to initiate this type of foot transport. Just the boys, skipping along. I wanted to join, but then I'd be that weird DC girl, so I didn't. But I smiled and stared...almost as creepy as joining in.

It is the most beautiful morning ever. The sun is shining, a few clouds provide some shade from the heat, the tourist level is way down since school's starting and people are on their final summer vacations of the year. It's great. Of course, then I remember that tonight I'm starting my camping trip. Camping Trip. CAMPING. trip. I have no more words.