Tag Archives: Summer in Washington DC

Summer is Rooftop Season in Washington DC

Posted on by under My life, Posts From Washington DC

I’m aware that my blog updates have been poor lately. Or non-existent, in fact. In part, this is a result of an intense work period that made me basically lock myself up in my office for three weeks after I came back from the Dominican Republic. But also because it seemed dull to post writings and photos of my everyday life in Washington DC after my week in the Caribbean paradise. But I guess it’s time to admit that this is my life here and that it doesn’t get more exotic than this, and that if I should keep this blog alive, I have to post non-adventurous posts now and then.

A pleasant discovery once I existed my office in late May was that summer had finally come to the U.S. East Coast. And in Washington DC, that means that people start gathering on rooftops around town. Drinks, BBQs, or just a relaxing afternoon – everything is better on a rooftop with a view! Here is the view from my friend Anna’s rooftop, at the top of Meridian Hill Park in North West DC:

Capitol Hill U.S. Congress

Washington MonumentCapitol Hill and Washington Monument

 

Save and Grow, and a Wonderful Weekend in Washington DC

Posted on by under My life, On Agriculture and Food

The weekend is here and I am enjoying it in full! For once, I don’t have any work hanging over me and the weather is wonderful. Today has been slow, with brunch at Trio and reading in combination with chatting over Skype with Mia-Lotta at Dupont Circle, and then ice coffee and more reading at a café. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be singing with the Swedish Song Group in the Swedish church, and then there is ballet class. I have to add that the odd thing about the Swedish Song Group performance is that we will sing a drinking song. The song is by our national poet and composer, 18th century Carl Michael Bellman, but still… (För er svenska läsare är det Bort allt vad oro gör.)

My main remaining deliverable at work before the end of June is a set of notes on nutrition-sensitive agriculture, which is a topic that I read about in my spare time anyway. So even though I don’t have to work, I have read up on things to for work also in the weekend just because it is so interesting. While browsing around for research and reports on biodiversity and nutrition content in food crops yesterday, I came across this FAO produced movie for the report Save and Grow. It’s only a few minutes long but it captures well how global food yields were revolutionized in the middle of the 20th century and some of the challenges that we’re facing over the next decades. How do we solve it? Well, we don’t have a very good answer yet, but I am trying to do my part in figuring it out.