Good morning, DMV! It’s Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Life happens. Sometimes it’s a drag. Here’s what I learned in recent days …
How much it costs and how long it takes to get your car window replaced after a break-in: $259, done outside my home in just a few hours. (The break-in happened while we were sleeping. No one was hurt. Nothing was taken.)
Watch where you walk: I know this one! But I was running in my platform sandals out of the Metro station to catch a bus when I turned around to my husband and said something along the lines of “We’ve got this!” Then I wiped out. Hard. (No broken bones, just skin.)
As readers familiar with this newsletter know, when life gives me lemons, I knit a lot … ideally while chugging lemonade. (I’ve given away all those tank tops to the girls and women in my family.) So amid the recent life hiccups, thankfully, I had a project on hand.
This summer, the Takoma Park city newsletter had this headline: “Calling Knitters and Crocheters!”
Yes, me!
“Walk & Roll to School Day 2026 is October 7, 2026. Would you like to knit or crochet hats for our students to stay warm and VISIBLE?”
Oh, I need this.
I went to the community center on Sept. 1 to pick up donated yarn — including reflective yarn for bobble toppers — and got to work.
Sept. 4: The moment I realized I didn’t have enough yarn to finish in the shape I’d started. I ended up unraveling and making it smaller. (Pics by yours truly)
Sept. 5: Beanie #1 — a bit small for me, but perfect for a kid.
Sept. 7: Beanie #2. Crochet pieces work up quickly.
Sept. 10: Beanie #3, knit chenille. Not my favorite, though I like the colors — peach and sky blue, though it’s hard to see in this light. I’ll use smaller knitting needles next time.
Sept. 12: Beanie #4, crocheted.
Sept. 14: Beanie #5, knit.
I dropped them off at the community center yesterday and spoke with Kaysi-Ann Webley, the city’s transit planner who runs the Safe Routes to School program and organized the beanie project. It’s the first year they’ve done this.
Since launching in July, they’ve received 98 handmade beanies so far from 32 volunteers and seven city staff. They’ll be passed out to kids for walk-to-school day on Oct. 7, Kaysi-Ann said, so the kids are visible and warm as the days get colder and darker.
My original goal was three beanies. Then five. Now, I’m aiming for 10. (I really do have a life outside of crafting.)
The deadline for beanie contributions is Sept. 28.
My contributions at the top of the pile yesterday.
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👋 Join me on Oct. 6
I’ll be speaking Oct. 6 at M.M.LaFleur in Georgetown with Analía Gómez Vidal, a Daily Dose reader who works as a career development specialist, about navigating change and reinvention.
I “met” Analía on Feb. 5 — the day after I was laid off by the Washington Post. After opening the Post Local newsletter that morning and seeing I had not authored it, she sent me a message on LinkedIn thanking me for my work.
“I never replied to the newsletters but I looked forward to them every weekday morning,” she wrote to me. “I enjoyed your curiosity and connected with a lot of interests you wrote about, especially around birds and fun facts about the sky. I felt excited to hear what new topic would come up and appreciated the joy you brought to it.”
She added: “I do hope you continue writing and if there is a newsletter I can sign up for to keep reading your explorations and writing, I will happily do so.”
My response: “Yes, I was one of the 300 laid off yesterday. I found out after yesterday's send, then wasn't able to tell readers. So I'm launching a newsletter to tell you & also find a path forward.”
I was in shock but had already started building my Daily Dose. I sent her a link to sign up, and she became one of my first subscribers. I sent my first Daily Dose newsletter that night.
Analía and I have since met and discussed work, life, transition and the path to fulfillment beyond our professional identities — which, as it turns out, is her field of specialty.
📰 News around the DMV
Trump administration’s deferred resignation program cost $6.7B last year, watchdog estimates (Federal News Network)
D.C. has coolest morning since June 3 (Capital Weather)
📷 Your joy
(Stephanie Rico)
Stephanie Rico snapped this pic recently and sent it in with a brief note: “Traveling along a country road in Rockville, MD, I witnessed cows taking an afternoon dip in a cool pond. I love the looks on their faces.”
🧶
