25 to 50 Large Birds

As parts of the region and country move towards "reopening," many people probably have had enough of the limitations imposed by their quarantine lives. I assume that there are people out there having surreptitious small gatherings with others outside of their household. This has to be happening to some extent, though I have no idea exactly how prevalent it is. And it's not like people would be openly trumpeting their social exploits of this nature, lest they be perceived as reckless and potentially endangering public health. While I would like to see my friends in person again as much as anyone else, if everyone decides that they, too, are going to start socializing with people outside of their household, it potentially sets us up for a tragedy of the commons situation. In this case, the tragedy is an increased spread of the virus resulting from these gatherings. Inevitably, at least some of these gatherings may result in virus transmission. Of course, I have no idea...

It is oddly similar, in a way. What's happening outside my window is more or less the same. Traffic on the interior neighborhood streets is minimal, as it's always been. It's a little more common to see people spending time outside, walking their dogs or bicycling/etc, but overall, the visible rhythms of activity in the neighborhood are more or less the same. The playground is closed, but people play in the grass or on the sidewalk. Sure, I assume people are staying at home more now and going places less, but that doesn't markedly change the neighborhood's pulse. It's still typical suburban quiet. Ordinarily, I would have chances to escape, but right now, I don't. The occasional aimless, meandering walks I've been taking through the boring suburban scenery here just aren't doing it for me. There is nowhere to go. The most interesting thing within walking distance might be the highway overpass just outside the neighborhood, where below, the traffic ...

I saw this Twitter thread and thought it might be interesting to do a similar compilation for the state of Maryland. There are 24 counties (including Baltimore City) in Maryland, which is small compared to Ohio or Minnesota which have upwards of 80 counties. I tried to focus on local news publications for each county. Montgomery County : (my home county, so you get a triple feature) " Students weigh in on online learning " by Caitlynn Peetz  at Bethesda Beat. " Olney Grille customers start fundraiser to help restaurant staff " by Deirdre Byrne at Montgomery Community Media [I wrote this one] " Grocery delivery services at local stores face increased demand amid pandemic " by Rachel Taylor   Prince George's County :  " A better way to map Maryland's coronavirus outbreak " by Michael Theis at Route 1 Reporter  " College Park's UMD Engineering Labs Make Hand Sanitizer, Surgical Masks " by Alison Beckwith at the Hyat...

Out of curiosity, I figured I'd solicit the help of anyone who's willing to tell me about the mail they receive in a week. I was wondering about how the mail a given address receives compares to what other addresses receive. I was also curious about what exactly comes in the mail to my household, so I decided that I'd start recording an inventory of that for at least a week (starting on Monday, March 30). What I want you to do : Take an inventory of the mail your household receives each day for a week. You may be as detailed as you wish. To protect your privacy, you can be vague about the specifics of a given piece of mail -- I don't need to know the intimate details of a medical bill you receive, but the broader category "medical bill" would suffice. Or if there are mail items that are just too personal and you do not wish to reveal them to me at all, that's also up to you, but ideally omissions like this would be limited. Please record the number...

[author's note: When I get stressed about something, sometimes I end up just typing out all my thoughts so they aren't just in there rattling around in my head as much. Usually what results is a bunch of rambly anxious brain vomit that's totally not intended for public consumption, but this time I decided to try and write something a bit more artistic/literary.] The mechanical whir of the orange faregates and ascending the escalator to the platform. The train, doors open, is about to depart. What is typically a straightforward trip, albeit somewhat long. But now it may just be too much of a risk. Do you really want to find out? Safer to stay in. Isolate. Withdraw. Monday afternoon, March 2. Rooftop views of Dupont as the weather teases the promise of spring. Racing out to Rosslyn just to see if I can do it. Traffic is light. The mood is relaxed and pleasant. Mosaic flooring in the lobby and a 24-hour oven clock. We pass some time and contemplate which deadly sin gambl...

On Saturday, Aaron Landry and I completed the Metro Challenge. It entails passing through every single station in the Metro system in a single trip. This is an extremely detailed explanation of what it's really like to attempt and finish the DC Metro Challenge. It's also probably more than you ever wanted to know about the Metro Challenge, but here goes. A Washingtonian writer did the challenge recently , which is how this idea got in my head.  Here's an earlier preview post with some of my thoughts about the challenge prior to attempting it . All in all, it was an adventure. Though some people may not find the concept appealing at all, doing the Metro challenge may be of interest to those who like transit. It's an interesting day trip idea and rather doable with the proper planning and execution. Here's a current map of the WMATA/Metrorail system  (PDF), for reference. At best, the challenge can be completed in around eight hours. Our final time was 7 hours,...

Washingtonian just published an article about the Metro challenge , which entails passing through every single Metro station in a single trip without exiting the system. At best, it can be completed in about eight hours. The most efficient route ( courtesy of Riley Dosh ) is as follows: Shady Grove > Glenmont > Fort Totten > Greenbelt > Branch Ave > L'Enfant Plaza > Huntington > King Street > Franconia-Springfield > Largo Town Center > Stadium Armory > New Carrollton > Vienna > East Falls Church > Wiehle-Reston East fun fact: a route like this is called a Hamiltonian path Here's a geographic description of how this route works : Begin at the northwestern terminus of the system, Shady Grove , located in Montgomery County, Maryland. Take the Red line down to DC and back up to Glenmont (also in Montgomery County). Head back inbound a short distance to Fort Totten to transfer to the Green or Yellow line, then head east ou...