Friday, December 9, 2016

Friday, December 9, 2016


Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie LOVED flashlights. He inherited this propensity from Peter. Both of them were obsessed with flashlights and the different circumstances to use them. Frankly you wouldn't believe our flashlight collection! One just won't do you in our household!!! Peter even got Mattie his own set of flashlights. Of course this was very neat to Mattie. Ironically one of Mattie's first words was "light!" How do you like that?





Quote of the day: How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. ~ William Shakespeare


It seems like a very long day, followed by a very long week. So much so that I don't have much energy to write tonight. My day started with my monthly licensure board meeting and I never stopped moving after that. It is also our Foundation's annual drive season, so our mass mailing will hopefully go out next week. But it isn't easy mailing out 500 letters, and it is only Peter and I doing the work. Everything from crafting the letter, printing it out, folding it, addressing it, stamping it, and lugging the mailings to the post office. The logistics of this alone is hateful, and don't get me started about buying 500 holiday stamps! If I did not have Darryl at the Foundation's post office who looks out for us, I would NEVER have secured enough stamps. He ordered and held them especially for me. I have been checking in with him all week, and visited him three times. But today, I am happy to report I have stamps in my hand. Darryl is one of the unsung heroes at the post office. He always greets you with a smile, can't help you enough, talks with you, and makes it an unforgettable experience. For EVERY customer, not just me! Darryl is the best, so much so that I won't mail anything where I live in DC, instead I cross the river to visit Darryl. He handles all of my Foundation and personal mailings. 

In the past, Mattie Miracle would mail out holiday gifts that required bubble mailers. I would literally come into the post office with hundreds of these mailers and Darryl would HAND CANCEL each and every envelope so that the gift inside wouldn't break. If the envelopes weren't hand canceled, then going through the mailing sorting machine could damage my items. But here is the beauty of Darryl, he would manage my hand cancelling while also helping other customers and processing them through the LONG holiday line. He's amazing, we should clone him!!!

The highlight of my day was walking Sunny tonight. Georgetown is having a special artistic light display along the waterfront, entitled, Glow. Apparently this is the third winter they are doing this, but unlike the past two winters, I had NO REASON to be walking in the evening. Now with Sunny, he forces me out into the world, and I get to see "Glow" each night!

The 2016 Georgetown GLOW invites visitors to re-imagine the season of light through outdoor public art. Now in its third year, 2016's Georgetown GLOW is expanding from a 10-night to a month-long exhibition running from Friday, December 2 through Sunday, January 1, with works lit from 6 – 10 p.m. nightly. Georgetown GLOW is presented by the Georgetown Business Improvement District.

The 2016 exhibition encourages contemplation of, and interaction with, the natural environment. Each work has an element of interactivity allowing the viewer to walk in, on, and around the piece; while other works ask the viewer become part of the artwork. Commissioned works of local, regional and international artists will be featured throughout Georgetown's commercial district, including along the historic C&O Canal, Georgetown Waterfront Park, Grace Church, Washington Harbour and Wisconsin Avenue.