nature doesn't like Earth Day

Or at least Earth Day celebrations the day before Earth Day.

Rain, rain came and stayed in D.C. Sunday. Most of the day it was an intermittent light rain, but there were enough downpour moments to make my drive downtown difficult and send people scurrying. The rain meant my initial plans for the afternoon were canceled, so I headed into the heart of the city to run a couple of errands and see if I could catch a bit of the free concerts promised on the Mall to celebrate Earth Day.

I arrived at the Mall just after one of the heavy precipitation events had ended. I was in time to watch crowds of plastic-sheathed people emerge from the neighboring museums and converge back on the grass in front of the stage erected for the day (although apparently after they'd already made the decision to cancel the rest of the show).

With the rain stopped and the ground more than soggy the Mall had an excellent vibe. Instead of the usual weekend hordes of tourists and the extra usual horde for an event, the crowd was smaller (only those people for whom getting wet and then hanging out on a soaked area of turf did not present the slightest obstacle to an enjoying afternoon). More than anything, it felt like a college afternoon - the crowd that remained skewed hippy, with a drum circle breaking out, lots of people going barefoot in the grass and an occasional wafts of fragrant smoke drifting through it all.

Admittedly, this atmosphere of being among a crowd with no real concern about time, weather or hygene (the perfect atmosphere for a lazy rainy Sunday afternoon with otherwise good weather - no wind, and just the right temperature for walking through the grass) was at its strongest later in the day. At first when I arrived, the central mass of loiterers were surrounded by people streaming away from the mall, the more-determined tourists who, having the neatly-planned event broken up by the rain, all seemed to head a block or so north to stand in line for the National Archives.

I detoured around the crowd and wandered for a moment through the National Gallery of Art. Since moving to D.C. nearly a year ago, I've been to the Galley a few times, but always for something specific. I haven't simply taken the time to wander through, and as I aimlessly (or nearly aimlessly - I did generally move in the direction of the one Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Gallery) moved through the rooms, I realized just how big the place is. It's a feeling accenutated by the layout; the main floor of the West Building alone is divided into nearly 100 rooms, all of which are relatively small and give the general feeling - if you stop aimlessly wandering and try to find a specific place or an exit - of being in a very well-decorated maze. It also serves to break up the visiting population - I'm sure there were a ton of people there, but most of the time I was the only one in whatever room I found myself in.

All day I avoided being caught outside in the real rain, instead wandering in the dry aftermath of the heavy falls, or perhaps in a little shower. Without the inconvenience of soaking-wet clothes, I found the weather mostly relaxing. The sky was overcast but the air was pleasant, both of which contributed to the general mood that as I roamed through the now-glistening city there was no responsibility to do anything else.

After I walked out of the Gallery, I saw the stage being dismantled. A few moments around a drum circle was enough for me, and on a whim I headed to the zoo. I had brought running shoes and clothes with me, so I decided the zoo would make a nice environment to discover just how poorly my muscles and lungs were working at the moment. I entered the grounds after the buildings had closed for the day but with two hours to go before the zoo itself closed. I don't know what the normal crowd for a Sunday at that time would be, but if there are normally any crowds watching the animals enclosed out of doors, the rain had chased them away. Once again, I had a place almost all to myself.

I highly recommend the zoo late on a rainy day, as long as it's not raining at the time. Most of the animals I passed were up and about, perhaps enjoying the last light of the day as well as a respite from the day's rain. The flamingos testing out the feeding options in a newly-formed puddle at the edge of their cage were not happy to see me run by, but otherwise everything there added to the very chill effect.

An effect that came to an abrupt halt when I returned home and realized I mountains of dirty dishes and laundry to deal with.