A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Weatherwise, the weekend was pretty crappy, but the first three days of the week have been gorgeous (obviously I wish the weather had been reversed). Today the high was around 80, which is about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, and 20 degrees warmer than Saturday through Monday. I walked into work this morning, after walking home on Monday and into work yesterday. The difference is that this time I brought a camera.

Here are a couple of tulip shots at Bartholdi Gardens, part of the National Botanical Gardens (and across from the main Botanical Gardens building):



And I've really enjoyed seeing the miniature daffodils sprouting up (though they're already a little past peak):


The camera also came in handy at lunchtime, as I walked over to the Tidal Basin (about six minutes from my office) and took in the cherry blossoms. It was too warm, too crowded, and quite lovely. Here are a couple of tree shots, the first focused more at the blossoms than the tree itself:



I was very taken with close-ups of the blossoms themselves, and a number of the photos came out pretty well:






And of course, no visit to the Tidal Basin would be complete without the obligatory Washington Monument shot (bonus -- with reflection!):


Tonight I went to the DC United game against UNAM Pumas, a Mexican squad, in the first game of the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Cup. United scored early off a beautiful cross from Jaime Moreno to Christian Gomez. For the rest of the half, United played very defensively, daring Pumas to score. Fortunately, there were only a couple of close calls, and no goals. That changed early in the second half, when Pumas converted a penalty kick after a dubious penalty was called in the box. Then it was United's turn to attack while Pumas was content with a tie on the road, knowing the second game would be in Mexico City. United had a couple of opportunities, and the ref had several chances to return the favor of a penalty in the box, but to no avail. Final was 1-1.


Alecko Eskandarian, Jaime Moreno, Josh Gros and Ben Olsen, Moments Before Kickoff

In other news, today my boss announced that he's taking a job elsewhere. I like him, I'm sad to see him go, but the new job gives him the ability to pursue one of his life interests. I certainly can't blame him for pursuing it, and hope it gives him everything he wants from a job. On the other hand, work is currently going a major transition due to change among the higher-ups, and I can't help but think of the image of a rat leaving a sinking ship.