Happy first day of school! It’s August 24, and more kids are starting school today, including in D.C., Fairfax and Prince William counties.
I’m clinging to the last vibes of summer. I don’t usually do this. I quite like the changing seasons. I love bundling up in cozy layers as the temperatures drop. But this year feels different. Summer seems to have gone by so fast.
The sun rises across the DMV* this morning at 6:30 a.m., 48 minutes later than our earliest sunrises in the first weeks of June. It sets at 7:50 p.m., 47 minutes earlier than the latest sunsets of the end of June and beginning of July. That’s about an hour and a half less daylight than on June 21, the summer solstice.
BirdCast earlier this month launched its live maps for the fall bird migration. I can’t believe they’re already flying south again. But I look forward to going out to observe crows, which sleep together in enormous communal roosts in winter.
For now, I’m still in my summer wardrobe, though it’s too cold (for me) to swim. Cicadas are buzzing by day. Butterflies flit about doing their thing. A chorus of crickets chirps by night. But I don’t see any more fireflies.
As I finish writing, I come to a realization about why I’m holding so tightly to summer: Today is transition day in Montgomery County for students going into new schools. Today, my daughter starts high school.
It is time that has gone by so fast.
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📰 News around the DMV
Losses keep piling up for Trump administration over handling of RTO mandate (Federal News Network)
D.C. coating roads to help cool city (City Cast DC)
🍴 Things to do
Where to crack crabs and get on the water near D.C. (Washingtonian)
📷 Your joy
(Cindy Wagner)
Cindy Wagner, 69, of Bethesda, sent in a few pics from her outing Wednesday afternoon to the Montgomery County Fair.
“I don't go on the rides anymore, but I always enjoy a glimpse of pink elephants flying by,” Cindy said of the Dumbo ride.
(Cindy Wagner)
“Prize-winning garden display basket from Lewis Orchard, Dickerson, MD….”
I also include a pic from Passion Julinsey, 52, of the Wharf neighborhood of D.C., who went to the Grand Prix downtown. She had a spare ticket and invited me to join her, but I was busy.
(Passion Julinsey)
Passion said it was hard to take photos of cars driving at that speed. I asked her how it went, and she replied, “Fun!” and “Phenomenal!”
Are you still in summer mode? Share your photos of life in the DMV here.
* 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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