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It all started with a trip to Cox’s Farm in Virginia. GM and his family wanted to get into the full spirit of the fall season last October and there’s not many places around here better suited to that task. And as you might imagine, GM and fam came home burdened with a bunch of gourds, including an unusual white pumpkin. Little did they realize that that pumpkin would soon make the national news.

The pumpkins, including the white one, were arrayed on GM’s stoop, as one does. But it wasn’t just two days later that he noticed that it was suddenly gone. Now, it’s not terribly surprising to lose a pumpkin or two (or three) over the course of October. Most of the time it’s just drunk college dudes stumbling home late at night, looking for a laugh by smashing them on the ground.

And that’s what GM assumed had happened. But then he remembered his new security cameras and realized he could actually see the culprit. He was not prepared for what he found.

No more than a half hour before GM realized the pumpkin was gone had it been stolen. And it was stolen by that fellow you see above in the tight black jeans. It wasn’t smashed (at least not immediately) it was just taken away, like a hostage being rescued by special forces.

The utter ridiculousness of the scene caused GM to laugh. But better, it provided him with easy content! He wrote up a quick article, hit “schedule” and called it a day.

An easy Monday morning article was about all he expected out the Case of the Tight Jeaned Pumpkin Thief. But so much more ensued. Continue reading →

Photo by Joe Flood.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• I’m still putting signs up for my ANC campaign, but I’m keeping track where I put them up, and win or lose, will take them all down the day after Election Day.
• What life is like for the few GU students living in dorms right now.

C & O Canal Towpath

Halloween in Georgetown has a long tradition. While legendary rowdy bar crawling on M St. has subsided over the last decade, the neighborhood still draws huge crowds of trick-or-treating kids from across the region. But if the city has its way, that will not happen this year.

The DC Department of Health issued guidance earlier this week concerning many of the traditional Halloween activities. Spoiler alert: they don’t like most of them. But the guidelines are just that: guidelines, not legally enforceable laws.

Some of the activities DOH recommends skipping this year include bobbing for apples, going to haunted houses, and, most notably, going trick-or-treating. They suggest lower risk activities, including carving pumpkins with your family or attending drive-through holiday displays. Continue reading →

Photo by the IMF.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Amy Coney Barrett and her husband ate at La Chaumiere right after attending the Covid pool party at the Rose Garden. So, uh, if you went there that night too, you might want to get tested. Update: Just to be clear this is not a criticism of La Chaumiere, which is lovely and a place you should support! It was a criticism of Barrett and the utter lack of contact tracing that has been done following her and her colleague’s reckless actions.)
• Georgetown students re-forming an off-campus tenants union.

Potomac River

Sitting at the heart of Georgetown lies the Georgetown Ministry Center, the neighborhood’s primary provider of daily services for individuals living with homelessness. Although not a full-service shelter, the center offers a variety of critical resources, including a place to shower and wash your clothes, a daily meal, and access to computers, among other services. But this model faced a huge challenge under Covid: how to serve this population while still following the city’s health guidelines?

GMC was founded by a consortium of Georgetown congregations and Georgetown University in 1984. And it operates out of a building adjacent to Grace Episcopal, just off Wisconsin Ave. In normal times, this tight collection of a handful of rooms served as a clubhouse for the approximately 40 individuals who used the center’s services on a routine basis. But its layout is inconsistent with social distancing requirements. Nonetheless, physical changes to the space implemented shortly after the shutdown have allowed the center to continue on, albeit with significantly limited capacity.

The center installed plexiglass partitions between the shower/laundry areas and the food distribution area, which allows for both to be used at the same time. Nonetheless, patrons who were before able to use the showers and laundry multiple times a week now must make a reservation and can only use them once a week. In between each use, the areas are cleaned. (Unfortunately the bathroom is no longer available for use, a significant loss for the patrons.) Continue reading →

Photo by the IMF.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another CEO gets sentenced for bribing his child’s way into GU. (Bribing the school directly is still a-ok, by the way)
• October 20th, CAG will host its October meeting concerning the state of Georgetown retail. At the beginning of the meeting, candidates for ANC, including myself, will be given a chance to speak briefly. Come check us out!

3300 block of Water St.

It’s that time of year again, when people start to wonder what the hell are those giant grain brain-shaped fruit around Georgetown. As in past years, GM is ready with the answer, as reprinted below:

This time a year, if you wonder around Montrose or Volta Parks you’re bound to find on the ground weird softball-sized green fruit like the one above. People are often so struck by the sight of the fruit, they pick up one or two of them and bring them home. But what are they, you ask?

Despite their green color, they’re oranges. Osage oranges, to be specific. They are grown by Osage trees, which line the Parrot rope walk. These trees are prevalent in the Great Plains states, where they are often planted along hedgerows. Traditionally, the pliable but strong nature of this tree’s wood made it valuable for fence posts and archery bows. Continue reading →