As I climbed up from McPherson Square Metro this morning and walked up to Thomas Circle, I was struck by the light. It’s spring sunlight. Warm, crisp and citrusy against the brick and concrete. It’s a distinctly different light than the crystalline, icy light of December and January, where all the colors are pale and muted, and where none of the jewel tones of Spring and Summer shine out.Soon we’ll have leaves on the trees, and the flowers will be up. The forsythia along I-66 was starting to bloom as we went for a drive yesterday, which means the one outside my door should be along in the next week or so, and the rising daffodils are coming up like weeds.So take a walk this afternoon and bring your camera with you. Doesn’t matter if it’s a cellphone cam or a DSLR, it’s worth it to capture some of the very best light this city has to offer.

Morning rush at Thomas Circle - Originally uploaded by tbridge

Georgetown Yoga is offering you the opportunity to accomplish three goals in a single Sunday afternoon: take a yoga class, make a donation to a worthwhile charity, and help someone move forward in their career. A reasonably productive hour!

The charity yoga classes offer students who are working through the Yoga Works yoga teacher training program an opportunity to work with members of the public. You get an hour-long mixed-level class at the popular Georgetown studio, for a donation of $5 or more.

Money raised from the donations will be given to a charity selected by the students, The Wendt Center for Loss & Healing and Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care. The Wendt Center says it “is a premier resource for addressing grief in adults and children. Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care works to preserve, assist and strengthen the well-being of children ages 5-18 infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in metropolitan Washington, DC.”

Charity-slash-training yoga classes will be held on Sundays, from 5:30-6:30 on February 24th, March 30th, April 27th, May 25th, June 15th, and June 29th.

For those who have been thinking about trying yoga for the first time this seems like an especially great opportunity - no commitment, and if you decide it is not for you, at least you made a difference for the student and for the charity.

image courtesy of GreenPixie

By way of Consumerist we have a list of the nation’s worst offenders in the elder care system, 128 facilities singled out for “special focus.” Here in our area there’s two getting the skunk-eye from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Carolyn Boone Lewis Health Care Center in DC proper has been on the list for a full 34 months. You can see the full assessment here, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say this is a facility on the short road to losing funding toot sweet. Some joyous little bits are a below-average percentage of residents getting flu and/or pneumococcal vaccines (60% & 19% vs District averages of 83% and 68%), below average number of RN minutes per resident (11min vs 30min DC and National average) and 18 health deficiencies cites, rather than the DC average of 15 or the National average of 8.

Ruxton Health Of Woodbridge is the only Virginia facility on the list and a comparative newcomer with only 18 months on the list. Their percentages also looked better with regards to bedsores, vaccinations, and other items. It’s when you get into the citations that this for-profit agency looks worse with 21 health citations and 6 fire safety citations, versus the average 8 and 3. Scarily, the few items that supposedly impacted “many” rather than “few” residents was their failure to “Store, cook, and give out food in a safe and clean way” and “Get rid of garbage properly.” Yuck.

I got an email from the City of Falls Church saying that the Fairfax County Health Department is mailing an Influenza self-care guide to all Falls Church City residents. Cool, I thought. That’s great that the County is stepping up to help us out with a major source of illness by encouraging us to sneeze into tissues or even a sleeve instead of our hands and to stay home when we are sick and not be like that douchebag kid who got perfect school attendance and then kicked in the nuts by Don as a reward. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t fault Don. That kid had it coming for spreading disease through his school for all those years. A regular Typhoid Mary, that one.

Yeah, that’s all cool, but why would they send this email to me if I don’t live in Falls Church or Fairfax County? Why rub my nose in it? What about the rest of us? Here I am, your humble servant, presenting you with the whole of the document. Click here and take two sips of room-temperature Sprite. It has medicinal effects.

What special tricks do you have to avoid the flu? Are you like my old boss, who would slather himself with antimicrobial gel immediately after shaking someone’s hand?

A number of Arlington County residents have complained about an “earthy” smell and taste in their tap water. Fear not, the county says. They are working on getting rid of these issues through cooperation with the Washington Aqueduct Division of the U. S. Corps of Engineers, which is the water supplier, as well as other local stakeholders.

The Aqueduct Division is using powdered charcoal as one effort to remove the odor and taste, which is not completely foul but somewhere between undesirable and unpleasant. Don’t let the taste and odor fool you, though. According to the Corps of Engineers, the water exceeds federal and state safety standards.

I have noticed it myself and simply figured it was from dirt in the water from the source. The water we drink comes from the Potomac River and the reported aesthetic issues are likely from low river levels and high water temperatures.

Read the ACE press release on the issue here.

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I am discussing them in a six-part series.

The City of Falls Church is the bomb diggity when it comes to educating people about how to prevent West Nile Virus (WNV). Here are some handy documents they have on their site to help you get your ducks in a row:

WNV Checklist
Mosquito Tips During Home Construction
West Nile Virus Information for Kids

In addition, the site has a number of links for more information about the disease, both for education and prevention. Go check it out and have a fun, safe, mosquito-minimized summer!

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I am discussing them in a six-part series.

I know my neighbor’s cat never forgets to spray, but that’s not we are talking about. That’s just stinky and unwelcome but will continue until the cat dies. You can’t break old habits when it comes to cats.

DEET is the common name of a chemical that is one of the most effective mosquito repellents ever invented. In fact, DEET has a much longer name but I have decided not to post it because it looked too highfalutin’ for me to include.

What to look for in a good repellent is something like 25% DEET. That will give you several hours of protection under normal circumstances. The lower the concentration, the less time it will be effective. That’s kind of common sense, I guess.

My only concern with DEET was the potential carcinogenic effects from slathering it on. A few years ago I was taking a trip to Thailand to become a Buddhist monk and was concerned about such things as dengue and malaria. Which of these would have the worst side effects, I wondered? I never did find out but I used my 100% DEET death liquid as necessary to keep the stings away.

Whatever product you use, be sure to use something and keep those suckers at bay.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #6: Useful at-Home Information.

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I am discussing them in a six-part series.

Wait a second - it’s here to stay? Oh, crap. Then why are we talking about this? Are we doomed to a long life of misery and encephalitis?

We very well could be, but that’s not the point. We have so many more dangerous prospects in our future, ways to die have not even thought of, that we should not get our undies in a bunch over this. However, we should think strategically.

It’s just true that West Nile Virus is not going anywhere, but there are things that we can do to lessen our chances of getting it. These might include wearing long pants and long sleeves (I won’t), using mosquito repellent (I rarely do) and using a bug zapper. The bug zapper goes against my philosophy of not harming others, so I am zero for three.

The Falls Church web site also has a fourth suggestion: ensuring that “windows and screen doors are in good condition and free of holes” I don’t know about you, but my window screens are full of holes. That’s kind of how they were designed.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #5: Don’t Forget to Spray.

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I am discussing them in a six-part series.

That’s right - in the fight against mosquitoes and West Nile Virus, you have friends in your city or county’s health department, park maintenance team and even some housing and human services agencies.

However, you are a key player in this fight. When you come across dead birds and standing water, don’t just walk by and assume someone will do something. Call it in to the health department to make sure something gets done.

If you see that pool of water or rotting bird corpse again, call again to let them know that somebody dropped the ball. And if it’s still there the next day, call again and use some colorful language like “jerkwanker” or “fucknut.” These words don’t have to have established meanings; they just have to be spoken in such a way that people understand through context what you are trying to communicate. It’s great fun!

But know that your local city and county officials are working hard and may not be able to address every concern in as timely a manner as you would like. They are on the case, but it is a team effort to get a handle on this problem.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #4: West Nile Is Here to Stay.

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I will be discussing them in a six-part series.

According to the Falls Church site, mosquitoes only need two tablespoons of water to breed. Me, I need something like a 40 of malt liquor to make that happen. And two straws.

What this means is that any standing water in your yard is the mosquito equivalent of putting on a Barry White album and bathing in Drakkar Noir. You know some boot-knocking is going down at that point, and mosquitoes don’t “suit up” the way respectable humans on E Street do.

That’s bad, I tell you.

Go look in your yard and see where the water is standing or could stand if this humidity ever turns into a downpour. Me, I will be busy throwing all my old tires in the neighbor’s yard in the middle of the night. Don’t expect me to look well rested tomorrow at work.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #3: You Are Not Alone.