Week Three

With both the House and Senate in session, the processes we learned during orientation are starting to take shape. Information from leadership and party caucuses, committee staff summaries, committee meetings, hearings, briefings and floor votes. I've heard it described as "West Wing" but for Congress. It's showtime!

With work time getting tight, office staff are generous with bringing in snacks to share (like any office with affection for one another), since lunch becomes more unpredictable. The senate website does a good job of listing its services, including the snack bars and cafeterias (and barber, post office, credit union, and sundry shop on premises!). Apparently they know that we don't get out much! It's easy to just eat at your desk, and gobble up (down?) the snacks available. Especially with it now being Girl Scout cookie season (hold the thin mints...). And last week's Senate Services Expo was a great opportunity to grab a senate mousepad and key ring or two!

Budget season is also in full swing, with constituent visits piling up in all the House and Senate personal offices. There's something humbling about looking out into the halls on all of the floors (Hart Senate Office Building has an open atrium, where you really can see the gathering visitors), seeing the citizenry come to petition their elected officials, just as the founding fathers envisioned. I especially like seeing the student groups (often from high school, or interestingly, law school), as they're learning important tools for democracy. And despite the lucrative business, you truly do not need a lobbyist to get you in anyone's door. You just need an appointment (easily made by email), and a one-page description of who you are, some relevant state stats, the problem, and clearly and concisely what you need/are recommending. Help us understand your problem, needs and solution, and we can be your advocate. Democracy at work.

I'm learning to always have pad/paper, jacket, and business shoes for getting called into meetings or to staff a hearing. The schedule can vary every day, and no one gets more ribbing that the person who either dressed up (on a Friday during "recess" - when the member is in the district, not in the office) or dressed down (but everyone keeps business clothes handy "just in case"). I've noticed that the females on the Hill rarely wear skirts, never dresses, just lots of pants suits. 'Certainly makes it lots more comfortable.

I hope never to get nonchalant about the honor and excitement of working on the Hill - seeing the capitol in the distance coming off the train, walking by the Supreme Court to go to work, thinking about the people who had the vision to create this government, the lives lost in defending it, and the workmanship that went in to build these stunning representations of our best selves. It's really awe-inspiring.

With the Senate in recess (oops, I mean "working in the district") last week, I had the opportunity to get training about the resources of the Senate library - everything from the Congressional Record, travel documents, books by and about Washingtonians, and many newspapers and magazines. The perfect place to hang out for a day if you only had that kind of time. Even more fun was to stop by the Supreme Court and jump on the "5-8 minute" line, where you go through the metal detector, hand in everything but your false teeth, go through another metal detector, hand over your false teeth, and shuffle into the back of the court room where the Supremes are hearing an actual case. Wow! A room gilded with gold (almost), velvet curtains, impressive ceiling, so much to take in. Then the guard shuffles you out to let the next batch of 5-8'er's came in for a few seconds. Since I came in later in the hour (they hear arguments for one hour at a time, 1-2/day), I jumped back onto the end of another line in time to see the gavel fall for the end of the session. Still, it was exciting. [Kidding about the false teeth, but pretty much everything else but a pad/pen - not even chapstick.]

Having my heart back home and my head in D.C. creates a sensation of falling into the twilight zone with all of the back and forth train commuting. Having to think about where I am before I open my eyes every morning. Maybe this is how Alice felt falling through the looking glass? Except I haven't heard Rod Serling or the Mad Hatter in my head. Still, it's a constant adjustment.

Here in D.C. at the apartment, that pest treatment last month must be working - I haven't seen any owls yet. Just three leaky faucets and a very noisy neighbor at 4:45 am.

This past weekend I came back to D.C. in time to get to the Kennedy Center to see Savion Glover jazz tap with McCoy Tyner, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt - thrilling!

With the weather somewhat (and sometimes) warmer, and the days lighter slightly longer, I'm walking home after work (hence those comfortable shoes) yesterday to a bell concert of the Star Spangle Banner (only in DC...). Down Constitution Ave., passed the Capitol, along Pennsylvania, across from the National Gallery of Art, the Archives, Dept. of Justice, FBI, Reagan Building and Trade Center, Newseum, National Theater, Treasury, White House, historic townhomes, glass office buildings, veterans, homeless, and more! It's beyond my expectations! I still must look like a tourist (except that I don't jaywalk anymore...), taking in all of the sites with look of wonder. Tonight there were lots of cops stopping traffic, then suddenly what seemed like six helicopters in the air (with echoes of M.A.S.H. music in my head), presumably being decoys for the president to land. And I'm walking through it all, right in front of the White House. [I didn't seem him - they must land in the backyard.] What a kick!

If I'm home in time, I have dinner with Alex Trebek or Trader Joe. And that's a short day. And yet, I can't get enough.

Question of the week: why is there no “J” St. in Washington, D.C.?