Happy Monday, DMV*, and happy first day of school, Loudoun County! It’s August 17, and I’m back from my summer vacation.
I come home with a question for all of you: What are the best gifts from the DMV? Click here to respond. I was wondering this during my travels, so I’m crowdsourcing the question, as I’m sure you all have great ideas. Pray tell.
When I last wrote, I told you I would drop the sporadic newsletter while away visiting family in France. We were mostly in rural areas, catching up with loved ones, and time got away from me. I hope you’ll pardon my absence.
My family’s vacations are usually impromptu, with a plane ticket, car rental and little else planned. In brief: We met farm animals.
(Alisa Tang)
Feeding time at Le Bon Maché, the farm of my sister- and brother-in-law. (Landry Dunand)
We biked 120 km in the blazing heat along the Canal du Midi, hiked in the cooler Pyrenees and chilled out in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
(Alisa Tang)
A sand dragon. (Landry Dunand)
We camped under dark skies and were awestruck by the Perseid meteor shower — my favorite summer event! And during our last days in Paris, we swam in the Seine and enjoyed the partial solar eclipse.
(Alisa Tang)
(Landry Dunand)
I treat my Daily Dose as a community gratitude journal and love doing it. If this newsletter brings you joy, please consider supporting my work with a one-time, monthly or yearly donation to help keep me going. Do you know anyone who would enjoy reading me? Forward this to them to help me grow. For newcomers: To subscribe, click here. To those who already support me, I thank you.
📰 News around the DMV
Will Trump’s name really go back on the Kennedy Center? (Washingtonian)
When will the jellyfish invasion ease at the Delmarva beaches? (Capital Weather)
🎡 Things to do
📷 Your joy
(Constantia Rioux)
Constantia Rioux, 66, snapped this pic at her home in College Park, Maryland.
“Caught this fellow peeking into my kitchen window on July 22nd,” she wrote in her submission.
“I leave peanuts on the windowsill to attract entertainment like this for my cat and myself. I like to think John Kelly would have liked this photo.”
Loudoun County kids are back in school, while summer break is ending soon for other kids across the region. Share your photos of life in the DMV as summer winds down.
* In case you’re wondering: The DMV is how residents here call the D.C. region, which includes Maryland and Virginia. Readers often ask. Now you know.
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