What are your thoughts on ladybugs? This fellow probably isn’t alive anymore. I took his photo back in 2004 or so. When I was growing up, our house would be infested with ladybugs every spring. I don’t know where they all came from. There would be hundreds crawling on my windowsill and ceiling. One ladybug is adorable, but a swarm of 500+ is not. One ladybug crawling on your arm is precious, but finding 15 dead ladybugs in your shoes certainly is not.

We spent a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Harpers Ferry, wandering the narrow streets and enjoying the warmth of the June sun. One of our last stops was to an ice cream shop. I got mint ice cream and devoured the entire thing with haste, but Adam was gracious enough to save his cone to share with these birds. When they saw he had food, they quickly surrounded him. This is one of the most beautiful days from this summer. Simple but beautiful.

A good friend and I spent a scorchingly hot Sunday this past April pedalboating on the Tidal Basin. Afterward we met this hungry duck. I think the ducks on the basin are quite used to being fed by tourists and passers-by, because this fellow hopped right up to us. Fortunately my friend had a cylinder of sour cream & onion Pringles with her, which she happily parted ways with in order to sate his appetite.

My friend and I encountered this orange-coated feline while walking in the Bishops Garden at the Cathedral this past May. We stopped and talked with him and his owner for a bit. You don’t often see cats on leashes, but his owner claims he enjoys his city excursions.

I love her.

What better way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon?

mommy bunny and baby bunnies! 

bunny!

Here are some pigeons eating popcorn on New York Avenue. This is almost directly across from the NY Avenue Presbyterian Church. The weather yesterday was so nice that I wandered the streets for a while in the afternoon. I sat for a while on a bench near where these birds were enjoying their lunch. This photo shows a group of pigeons munching away, but when I initially walked up a group of smaller brown birds had congregated there.

There were a great many friendly animals roaming the streets this weekend! I can’t wait to share more photos (spoiler: White House animals!) Hopefully we’ll have some more illustrated images up soon – animals you wouldn’t necessarily see in a city but might if you wandered around a farm or woods!

I encountered this little guy a couple of weekends ago. Someone had dropped a chunk of bread in the middle of the street, right around D and 4th I think, and he was going after it relentlessly. I don’t know if it was hunger that made him unfazed by the cars zipping around him, or if he’s such a city-savvy animal! Either way, I admire his tenacity!