Ceili Dance Event during St. Patrick weekend

Ceili dances are a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. Ceili dances were divided into figures.

The dancers generally dancing on their toes with "side-step" or "sevens and threes"  (dancers travel sideways to the direction they are facing is common), "rising step" or "grinding step", etc. I was invited to a Ceili Dance Event in Maryland, and tired a few new dances.

People were pretty friendly and patient with new dancers like me. I learned quickly and got around ok.

Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated annually on 17 March, the death date of the most commonly-recognised patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461). In the mid-1990s the government of Ireland began a campaign to use Saint Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated around the world; especially in Ireland, Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. On St Patrick's Day it is customary to wear shamrocks and/or green clothing or accessories.

 

Marine Corp. Marathon in Oct. 2014!

I won a spot for the Marine Corp. lottery to run a full marathon on Oct. 26, 2014.  I ran 15 miles on 3/15 at 2:43. There were many other people exercising in the near-by high school track field. Two young runners trained with parachute which would add 30 lb resistance to the run.  

I ran 5 miles 51 minutes after the snow on 3/18. I will modify my fall travel plan to accommodate the Marathon. 

Doubletop Snowshoeing

I try things most people don't. I hiked with a meetup group in central SNP on 2/15/2014 in 2 feet snow without snowshoes for 6 miles with 1000 feets gain. It was brutal and fun, but I will never do that again.

There were five of us in the hike. All the other four had snowshoes to break the trail about 1 foot deep, then my boots with crampons only dug another foot to reach the trail surface. It was very tiring. My body sunk in some spots with snow to my waist and could hardly get out by myself, and I was even forced to crawl on the snow to get more surface to support my weight. I actually cried a few times, which reminded me when I cried from crawling on my elbows for 45 minutes in tiny tunnels in the Mammoth Cave.  Fortunately, the snow was powdery and I wore gaiters and Goretex pants, so I did not get too wet.

I chat with a friend about international traveling this morning, and asked him what to do after he visits all the countries in the world. He suggested space travel. I told him it is too expensive. I watched a 3D movie “Gravity” tonight. Space trip can be very scary. 

I recently started spiritual/emotional tourism within myself, i.e., touring internally with fresh perspectives and curiosity like a tourist. I have been amazed by what I found.  The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes." But my spiritual/emotional tourism can last forever as I keep evolving.
 

Help from an anonymous neighbor

I got at least 16 inches of snow in my yard, and there was more on my drive way to be shoveled away so I can drive out  my car.  I felt quite powerless after shoveling half hour just to clean around my car. Then I saw a truck with a front snow plow was working uphill about 10 houses away.  I waved my hand to the truck driver and shout out that: "It is so much easier with the big plow."

I then saw the truck turned around and moved towards my house. Before I had a chance to ask for the charge, the driver already  moved aside all the snow blocking my drive way.  He took off without one word and left behind my shout of "Thank you for sparing me from at least two hours of hard labor~."   He was a handsome guy with a sun-glass and blonde hair.


I then jogged toward the library and run around the parking loop that was cleared off snow, and I saw people skiing in the park next to the library.  It is a pity that I do not have cross country ski or snow shoes.

Dance at Glen Echo Park

Folk dancing was my old time hobby since college. I was the vice present of our folk dance club back in college, and the teaching assistant for ballroom dancing (the club was too poor to pay for a professional teaching assistant).  Now I go to some birthday parties in bars dancing with pop music and not much human contact.

Glen Echo Park is owned by the National Park Service and run by many non-profit organizations to promote liberal and practical education and offer year-round cultural and recreational activities.  I was in Glen Echo a few times, and stopped after a bad square dance experience (I did not like dancing with men with strange outfits).I was invited to Glen Echo the past Sunday.

Fort Washington National Park

I was in the neighborhood to check out two real estate properties, and followed the brown signs towards the Park.  The Fort was built to defend the river approach to the Washington, DC, and it has stood as silent sentry for over 200 years. It reminded me some forts I saw in Spain, which are quite different from the forts in India. I googled and found that Spanish actually built some forts in the US, such as Fort San Juan in North Carolina. Wikipedia has a list of Forts around the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forts
India has some many forts of its own such that Wikipedia a separate webpage for the list of Forts in India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forts_in_India  
I still remember how big the Red Fort complex in Delhi was, and how crowded and dirty the neighborhood was. I could find any local restaurants clean enough to eat, and ended up ate in a McDonald.  It was the 1st and hopefully last time I was forced to eat at a US fast-food chain when traveling overseas.