Blogging on the Powwow

About 11 months ago I went to Washington, D.C. to be a Congressional fellow . And, about one week ago I had my last day working in the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill. Then, after I finished packing all of my belongings into my car, I drove back home to Massachusetts. So far, I have been readjusting to life on the Powwow River , doing some much needed weeding, unpacking, sorting, purging, and reorganizing, visiting friends and family, and settling into my new work office. Oh...and I have made no fewer than three trips to Hodgie's Ice Cream  since I returned. So, what does a year in Washington look like as a Congressional fellow? Over a hundred hours spent in "training" sessions.  Our first two weeks consisted of sitting in a hotel ballroom for 8-9.5 hours a day, with 170 other people, freezing our fanny off, and having different speakers hourly who educated us about Congress, Washington life, the three branches of government, the federal budget, careers post-fello...

I'm back in Washington. Despite the frigid weather, I had a wonderful trip home, with many lessons learned. Never Underestimate When Being a Runner will Come in Handy Last Friday, I was on a flight that arrived at Logan Airport in Boston at 5:03pm. It was my goal to make the 5:10 C&J bus that would bring me to the Newburyport bus station, which is just five or so miles from my house. In theory, the bus arrives  at the airport at 5:10, but then starts making the rounds to each terminal, A, B1, B2, C, etc. As long as one does not fly into terminal A, one can count on a small cushion to catch the bus. I did some trotting inside the airport, because I knew it would be close. When I neared the exits I saw that it was 5:14...not likely that I would make the bus since I was in terminal B1. I got outside and hurried in the direction toward the C&J stop. Then I saw the coming toward me. I tried to flag it down, but failed. I felt defeated. Then a man who had witnessed my eff...

I'm not sure if other people use this phrase, but I definitely use it and I like it. The phrase just like magic  is reserved for events and happenings which yank me away from my present state of mine, which take all of my troubles and cast them aside, and grab me by the collar and hurl me into the present...to observe, enjoy, and breathe easy. Community band; our home when the wind is blowing the leaves on the maple trees over the Powwow; miles of corn crops in Nebraska; an abandoned home in North Dakota, ducks soaring down the Powwow -- these are the experiences that take my breath away and cause me to declare, Wow. It's just like magic. I ask you, is this not magic or what?  

We love to watch the ducks on our little river. In fact, Drake is named after the many ducks that visit our yard. We occasionally have other more exciting avian species, such as a Great Blue Heron and Canadian Geese, but mainly we have ducks, and mallards at that.  Last week, Neil spotted an odd-looking duck. He had all the markings of a drake mallard, but he was much, much lighter - almost cream-colored. Neil said that his coloring reminded him of a confederate soldier's uniform and so he set about naming him Sterling - after Sterling Price, a confederate general.  I have sought help from many sources to properly identify Sterling (who would want to go around without an identity, right?). My friend, Nancy, saw me post about Sterling on Facebook and she asked two local authorities on birds for his identity. The consensus was a  leucistic  mallard. Leucism results from reduced pigmentation and is distinct from albinism, which is the absence of melanin. I contacted...