Long Walks On Leafy Streets

8/13/2014 Near Skyline drive, Shenandoah Mountains, VA
Yesterday I went to Catonsville, a suburb of Baltimore, to pick up a wheelchair for my mom. I found the wheelchair through Craigslist. It rained the whole time I was there, non-stop and heavy. Been a while since I experienced such rain. I got off the B30 from Greenbelt station at BWI around 11 and got back on the same bus around 4 and it rained every minute in between. While coming back from downtown Baltimore on the light rail we had to get off at Patapsco station because the tracks were flooded between there and BWI. There must have been a hundred impatient, wet and tired passengers waiting in the pouring rain for the shuttle bus to arrive. This must have been a sudden development because the authorities had not yet set up a proper shuttle system. Bus after bus came and they were regular buses running their routes.
Finally after about 45 minutes a big shuttle bus came and whisked us all straight to BWI.
To get to the home of the wheelchair owner I had taken the number 10 bus from downtown to Catonsville. The transition from congested, decrepit roads and buildings, full of people struggling to make ends meet, to green scenic neighborhoods with well-maintained yards was a bit stark. The bus went through areas with beautiful parks, cemeteries and quiet school campuses. The last part of the trip was on Rolling Road, so named because in colonial times the British laid this road to roll tobacco from the plantations to Elkridge landing.
Overall I must say I enjoyed the whole trip. Most of the time I was able to read my mathematics book. The scenery and the travel enhanced the enjoyment of the reading. Travel also opens up your mind and helps you think better and come up with new ideas.
This was the second time in the past week that I had traveled to Baltimore. Nicole and I drove to the inner harbor area (also near downtown) for an impromptu date. The real reason we were driving was to get rid of the gasoline in our old Toyota Avalon. My sister Hema gave this car to me when they bought a new one and it had about 200,000 miles on it. It failed emissions test when I recently took it for inspection. I took it to three different mechanics and came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to recycle it. I didn’t even want to donate it or sell it for parts because then someone might use the inefficient engine that gave only 20 mpg at its best. We used it mainly for short trips and emergencies and in two years we had driven only about 5000 miles. The metal scrap yard guy told me that it should not have more than a quarter tank of gas when I brought it there. So I had to drive and burn up the rest of the gas because it would be too difficult to get the gas out and no one I talked to wanted to take it. The grace period for the inspection ended on Monday. I drove faster and more aggressively than normal to consume as much as gas as possible. Normally I drive in a very fuel-efficient way these days, but I must say I enjoy the testosterone fuelled adrenaline rush that comes from driving fast.
We both enjoy any place by water, whether it is a lake, a river or the ocean. We had a very nice evening at the inner harbor. The next morning we drove to where Seneca Creek joins the Potomac, near Poolesville, MD. It was early and the waters were silvery and flowed quietly with only a few kayakers here and there. Nicole loved it. I used to take my nephews there all the time and we would throw stones into the water or go for walks on the towpath that ran along the river.
After that it was time to say goodbye to the car. The scrap yard in Rockville was like nothing I have ever seen. There were huge piles of metal composed of all manner of machines and parts moved around by tall cranes called “cherry-pickers.” My nephew Naveen joined us and watched in awe as the cherry picker plucked the car like a little toy and placed it on top of one of the piles. He even took a picture of it that you can see on my Flickr page. I almost felt like I was at a crematorium. After all, this car has served us well and many of our memories are attached to it. Two of my nephews practically grew up with it. If you turn the key it comes to life, and with all the automated functions it is almost like a living organism. What is life anyway? I was surprised by how much attachment there was in my heart even to a machine.
Earlier last week after picking up the car from the last mechanic to see it I drove to DuPont circle. I wanted to check out the trees in the circle that I had written about in the previous post. It turned out that most of the trees in the circle are American Elms or Japanese Pagoda trees (aka Chinese Scholar trees). The Pagoda trees are especially beautiful and are blooming now. After that I drove to the White House area. There was a lot of activity due to the US Africa summit. Couple of angry looking African women were walking up and down the sidewalk in front of the historic Hay-Adams hotel, probably protesting some government policies. A line of armed police stood by and watched.
I passed the White House and joined the pick-up soccer game going on in the ellipse. For the next hour and a half I forgot about everything as we kicked and ran and passed the soccer ball on the grass. I don’t know any of the players because I started playing only the previous week but it didn’t matter. There was an implicit understanding and we communicated through our feet, using the language of futbol.

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