Rainy Day in the Suburbs

The suburbs of DC what is special about them? What makes them unique? What makes them different than any other place? I noticed something of myself. Each time I move to a new place it seems very ordinary: grocery store, mundane daily rhythm, hospital, library, the same pretentious nurses, the same lines at the motor vehicle office. Everything seems ordinary whether it is Italy or suburban DC. However, as I have moved and looked back on pictures of where I used to live I realize what made it different and special.

At the moment, I find very little unique places and amusing tidbits around Montgomery Co. It feels large, it feels like a giant mix of all the special politicians of the world, there is a sense of entitlement that people exhale as they go to their very important government and foreign diplomacy jobs. However, this is what makes it so different than other places in the US. While it might not be such a huge observation, it is one that makes Montgomery Co. worth noting in my blog. One day, who knows, maybe in a year, I will be living in Buckaroo Texas and I will look back and say, "Why didn't I blog more about the ordinary things of Montgomery Co.?" Or perhaps, that special reader in Thailand will read this blog and see something not so ordinary for them that in Montgomery Co. is plain and simple. Whatever the case, life in each place has it's own flavor. Here, the flavor is entitlement with a dash of Old Bay seasoning.

Here are some snapshots from my rainy day running errands in this neck of the woods.

Coffee cup to drink my hot coffee while running errands. A portable coffee cup in your car is a suburban must. And the measuring tape is an American tool to measure your freedom. At the moment I have 3 inches. Just kidding. I'm not sure why it is there. 

One day paleontologists will look at suburban shopping constructions and scratch their heads. 

Shopping carts for kiddos

I love walking through the floral section of the grocery store and looking at all the gifts.

Buying roses on a rainy day seems like such a good idea. 

I love looking at perfectly stacked rows of eggs. It must be my ascendant in Virgo.

Let's go walk to the Home Goods to get a trash can.

Pass the pizzeria with the sad man with the hole in his hat.

Ah! Bunny season has started. How cute.

Peter rabbit

And some other bunnies too.

These are the fanciest toilet wands with crystal embellishments that I have ever seen. I wonder what they will look like after use? Never mind that. Let's just admire their newness and prettiness.

On the drive home I stopped to take a picture of an old boarded up farm house. It had the look of an old bar with a fry chimney coming out of the side. I wonder how many people had dinners there? Beer there? Burgers? How many got pulled over as they drove home? It seems like an ideal place to break up because there is a big field behind it and two major country roads in front so you can scream in the back and take off in the front. I get the feeling that lots of break ups happened here.

There is a beautiful field behind that boarded farm house.

 And now the land is being destroyed and mined to build new giant houses.

 Mother earth getting a face-lift.

Further down the road there is a new Greek Orthodox church being built.

The dome is waiting for its moment of greatness.

 And for some reason, there was the American flag stuck into the mud. It was as if one of the construction workers wanted to have a moment of patriotism while building the Greek Orthodox church.

 I also stopped by the library to get some goods. And of course, I picked one up for the felines:

"I refuse to read this! The cat on the front looks like it is dying and I am alive and wild and well!" scoffed Fatty

 And the best way to end any rainy day is with a tried and true cornbread recipe that turns out good every single time.

I hope to keep looking for and finding the special about this area. Big cities have so much material for inspiration but I'm sure if Walt Whitman could write thousands of pages of "Leaves of Grass" I can find  a few special things about the burbs.