The Georgetown Metropolitan

One of the benefits of having a couple cameras on the front of your house is that you don’t have to wonder what happened to that one pumpkin:

It doesn’t bring the pumpkin back, sadly. But at least we know where it went…

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A students’ case against SNAP.
• Gypsy Sally’s closing in January.

1400 block of 28th St.

The above notice was sent to users of the Georgetown listserv by the Citizens Association of Georgetown. The old listserv is a Yahoo! group, and that platform is being shut down by whatever sad sack of a company ended up with Yahoo! (Verizon it turns out!). So CAG is moving it over to the Groups.io platform. To join, follow the instructions above and email georgetownforum_subscribe@groups.io.

Photo by Thomas Hawk.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Cat Cafe is changing course and will keep both the Cat Cafe on O St. and the Kitten Pop Up on M St.
• Major development proposed for the south side of the 2900 block of M St.

1400 block of 28th St.

In preparation for Halloween, GM would like to reprint again a Georgetown ghost story as told by Tim Krepp in his fantastic Ghosts of Georgetown (which you should buy!):

Continue reading →

Photo by Joe Flood.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Gap is considering subletting its space on Wisconsin Ave. and closing. Think how many banks could fit in there!
• Proposed plans for renovating the canal are refined.

2900 block of P St.

It’s been a while, but GM is back with Know Your Trees. This week he’s talking about a tree you don’t see on the street much, but you see in parks: the black walnut.

The lack walnut is a tree native to the eastern United States, including around Washington, DC. It is a giant tree, growing as tall as 130 feet and a crown just as wide. The tree is most easily identifiable by its leaves and fruit:

Courtesy of the Missouri Dept. of Conv.

The leaves are about 1-2 feet long and have 10-20 small leaflets growing off the stem. And in the fall, the ground around the tree is typically covered with green husky fruit about 1 1/2 inches across.

And yes, the fruit has a walnut in it, but it’s a real pain to get at, as this video demonstrates:

The nuts are edible, but there are not grown commercially. When you got to the store and buy a bag of walnuts, they are most likely from a variety of English or Persian walnuts.

If you want to see a huge black walnut tree, head up to Montrose Park back just to the west of the playground. Has anyone ever tried to eat its nuts?