Day 140

Petworth / Brightwood Park (October 7, 2022)

In Washington, D.C., the north-south running streets are numbered, the east-west running streets are either lettered ( C, D, E, etc.) or named (Garrison, Harrison, Huntington, etc.) and the avenues that run diagonally through the city are named after states. Today, we walked mainly on four avenues, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois and Colorado. For those of you who have wondered why Arkansas and Kansas are spelled almost identically but pronounced differently (Arkansaw and Kanzis), the answer is apparently due to Kansas being the English plural pronunciation of the local Kansa tribe, while Arkansas is the french plural pronunciation of the related Arkansa tribe. In French, the final plural syllable is not pronounced, hence Arkansaw rather than Arkanzis.

Here are some of the homes we passed along the way.

The local Twin Oaks community garden was one of the more charming we have come across, complete with covered picnic tables, and colorful beehives.

There are a lot of schools in the area, including the stately Powell elementary school. Built in 1929, it is named for William B. Powell, the city’s superintendent of public schools and co-founder of the National Geographic Society. It is a bilingual school (English and Spanish), which seems fitting for an area with a strong hispanic presence.

If like Napoleon, you’ve reached your Waterloo, you may want to send an S.O.S out to A.B.B.A.’s church. You may just end up having the time of your life.