This year's traipse around the District to view Christmas Trees was a little bit of a bust, I was blocked from seeing the National Tree by the Secret Service and all the inside trees in the museums and hotels were inaccessible or non-existent this year due to the pandemic, except for the old stalwart Norwegian tree inside the desultory, nearly-empty Union Station. (2020.)
But memories of past trees viewed around the district abound in my mind, most recorded on pictures if I can locate them on my computer, associated with many wonderful wintertime 3-5 mile runs at noon from my workplace, often accompanied by running friends. Last year's clear winner in the b best tree category was in a place I had never stopped in before to see if they had a tree, the Library of Congress. (2019.)
Several trees were twinged with political associations, like the Occupy movement of several years ago when the 99% were protesting the fact that the 1% own most of the wealth in this country, and around the world. After a few months of public parks becoming tent cities, the police moved in and moved the protestors out, and years later nothing has changed although life goes on and every year I trim my own tree, although not always in my own house. (2015.)
It has been interesting over the years to view the different trimming of the same trees, including the growth of live trees such as the Peace Officer's Tree outside the DC Courthouse. And to reflect upon the changing lineup of running partners I had over the year, from Rhea to Leah, all fading into memory by now as they all moved away, stopped running or just drifted away after I retired. (2017.)
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