nesting.

I am writing to you from my new perch, nestled amongst the trees in my top floor studio apartment in Eastern Market on Capital Hill. The trees are almost naked and their yellow and brown leaves have become a thick blanket on the street. Ive pulled back the old wooden shutters so the afternoon light can come in from all three sides of my apt. I love having so many windows. Despite the cold weather one of them is open because the heat from the nearby radiator is so intense. I can hear someone playing a piano a few houses down, and there is a man down the street raking the leaves in the church yard of Christ Church, the second oldest church in DC. Jefferson, Madison and Monroe all attended there. Every few minutes he will stop and raise himself up and say hello to whoever passes. It seems like most people know him, and they exchange pleasantries and talk about what happened over Thanksgiving. What a street this is. A few doors down is a tan rowhouse with pink shutters that was John Phillip Sousa’s home (he wrote Stars and Stripes Forever, i think). The sidewalks are broad, the streets narrow, and they are bounded for blocks and blocks by tall slender rowhouses. I think i am lucky to be living in one.

In fact, I feel really blessed. Ive never asked for adventure, God just likes to drop it into my lap every couple months. The latest one has me in this apt, in this city, working in a place that many people spend their entire lives trying to get into. All I brought here was what my car could hold. So I am sitting on a cardboard box right now, and there is a stack of my favorite books in the corner. Tonight I will eat off of a paper plate and sleep on an air mattress. I plan on living like this until my first couple paychecks come in, and then Ill find a thrift store or flea market and buy some furniture. I might try to buy groceries this afternoon at the oldest continually running farmers market in DC…ts been in operation since 1873, and its only a few blocks up the street. With or without my junk its all beginning to feel like home, and this is only my first night.

I wish you all could be here. Joey, Ms. Wilson, Andrew, St. Thomas, Leah, Amy, Bethany, Kate, Chris- I miss you all. Come visit soon.