D.C. Wildlife

The Must-Read Field Guide to D.C. Wildlife

Business Professionals - This species is best observed during rush hour before and after its many specimens disappear into air conditioned office buildings to spend the day confined to cubicles. From Yuppies to distinguished career men and women, this species is always in a hurry.

Cyclists - These bi-wheeled daredevils weave perilously between poles, pedestrians, and vehicles. It is not uncommon for business-suited cyclists to be observed pedaling their way to or from work with pant legs tucked neatly into socks.

Fireflies and Rabbits - These native species are quite abundant in the suburbs around D.C. Fireflies make their presence known each evening with their flourescent internal spotlights. Rabbits can be seen in both the mornings and the evenings and are most often seen in community with their family members.

Police Officers - This abundant species lurks in many expected and unexpected places. It is common for police officers to park their vehicles on wide sidewalks.

Runners - These sweaty bipeds are usually seen moving quickly along sidewalks, on bikepaths, or through parks. Each individual runner has his or her own unique gait. D.C. runners are unperturbed by infernally hot and humid weather.

School Groups - These conglomerations of minors are often visible near monuments, memorials, or museums. Usually chaperoned by harried adults, school groups are known to block traffic, talk obnoxiously loud, care nothing for respect of others, and take no interest in the valuable life lessons and experiences their leaders are attempting to provide for them.

Tourists - These wandering bi-peds have several identifying field marks. First, they are dressed quite casually compared to the working professionals around them. Second, they wander around somewhat aimlessly while attempting to find the perfect places on the sidewalk to pause and block the traffic of everyone around them who already knows where they are going. Third, they never can remember to stand on the right side of the escalator in order to allow those in a hurry to walk/run up the left side. Fourth, ...cameras.

Dog Walkers - Seen at any time of day or night, this species is equally present in urban and suburban areas. The human masters are tethered to their dear pets and follow their canines obediently, progressing at widely varying speeds.

If I am missing an important species from this list of D.C. wildlife, please don't hesitate to suggest additions.

About that Christian Liberal Arts College in the Middle of Nowhere

During the past three months I have had many opportunities to introduce myself to a wide variety of people. These people come from all over the United States and vary widely in age. Of course, at some point they all ask, "What college do you go to?"

To which I reply, "I go to Houghton College. It's in western New York state."

And I watch their faces very closely. These are the kinds of responses I have received:

• The Blank Stare: Quite often these new aquaintances display their lack of knowledge of Houghton College very openly on their faces. Then I get to explain that I go to a very small, Christian, liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere. Do they know where Rochester or Buffalo are? Ok, well, it's out near those cities...
• The Nod and Smile: These respondents have as little knowledge of Houghton as their "Blank Stare" friends, but they are more restrained in their facial expressions. They are working hard to be polite but the name doesn't ring any bells.
• The Look of Understanding: This face is usually followed by an explanation of "Oh, my (cousin, sister, friend) went there" or "I know one of the professors who works there". A connection has been formed but it's distant.
• The Look of Pure Joy: This only happens when someone has actually been to Houghton, gone on a Houghton study abroad program, or attended said school. Needless to say, this response brightens my day.

Also, it's pronounced "HO-tn"

not "HOW-tan"
not "WHO-tn"
not "HUF-ton"
not "HAW-ten"
not "HUE-tin"

Houghton. As in "HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and then a ton of bricks that squashes the doughnut--no more "O", just tn! Houghton.

Hi, I'm Bethany, and I go to Houghton College.

Loony visits the National Cathedral

Praise the Lord from the earth,

    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, 

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

    stormy winds that do his bidding, 

you mountains and all hills, 

    fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

    small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,

    you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and women,

    old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, 

    for his name alone is exalted;

    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. 

Psalm 148:7-13

One of the side chapels at the National Cathedral

The sixth largest cathedral in the world

 Not as faith-filled but still cool: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on the National Mall.

Loony Goes to the Beach

Yesterday I went to Sandy Point State Park in Maryland with 4 other World Vision interns. We had a lovely relaxing day at the beach. Sunburns, and salt, and sand, oh my! We had a potluck picnic and played "Presidents and Interns". (It's a version of the card games "President" but we adapted it to our summer situation: The best position is the President, then the Vice President, followed by Director, Intern Coordinator, and final, at the very bottom, is the Intern.)

Onomastics (The Study of Names)

I also want to give a shout out to my wonderful sister, Charlotte, who now has earned a bird name of her own. Welcome, Quack, to the NECC flock!

Savannah, Babs, and Quack are proudly parented by Loony (I may have named my stuffed animal-bird after my father...) and Ting. Got to love my feathered family. :-)

In case you are wondering, here are the stories behind our names:

• Loony (Loon) -- When he needed a bird name for Wednesday evening Pioneer Clubs at Grace Chapel, my dad chose Loony and his friend chose Cuckoo. Cuckoo didn't know this appellation would be his for the entire year. I'm sure parents felt so at ease leaving their precious children in the care of Loony and Cuckoo.
• Ting (Indigo Bunting) -- My mom's maiden name is Tingley. And Indigo Buntings are BEAUTIFUL. Just like my mommy.
• Savannah (Savannah Sparrow) -- When I was younger, I had a fashionable porcelain doll which my parents suggested I name Savannah because she looked like a Southern belle. I always loved that name, and when I discovered it also belonged to a bird, I figured I would be quite happy to own that name at camp for the rest of my life.
• Babs (a knitting chicken) -- Our family has this tradition of watching the movie, Chicken Run, every Thanksgiving. Ironic. Anyways, in the movie Babs is a naive, brainless, knitting chicken...the opposite of our Babs. Amusing.
• Quack (full name: Quack A. Bird) -- There was a awesome/favorite counselor named Quack at NECC when we were younger. Char is awesome. Therefore, they share a name. Plus Quack is a sweet name.

Loony Visits the Newseum

Late last week I thought to myself, "Hmmm, what shall I do this weekend?" I decided to go to Mount Vernon. Then I thought about how hot it was going to be. And I changed my mind. That was definitely a good choice. 

Instead I went to the Newseum, on Pennsylvania Avenue, with a fellow WV intern. We discovered that our tickets were good for two days, so we went for about 4 hours on both Saturday and Sunday. By the time we were done we had pretty much seen the whole museum--there's a lot to see. 

The view from the Newseum's 6th floor Pennsylvania Avenue balcony.

(Also, notice the Canadian flags? That's the Canadian Embassy. Happy Canada Day--a little late! The 5/8s of me that is Canadian celebrates! Oh, and look, I'm holding a "Loony"...mwahahaha.)

We saw the exhibit about presidential campaign communication, and I had flashbacks to my communication senior seminar class this spring where we studied this exact topic. I focused my research on:


I must say that studying this topic made me cynical about the presidency.
It probably didn't help that I chose to focus on Nixon and Clinton...

 Near the end of Sunday, Loony and I popped into the studio at the Newseum where they film ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos. There was a lady there on the tour who was so overcome with emotion that she almost started crying when she got to touch the chair where Stephanopoulos sits. A little odd, yes?


 In other news, I survived my first massive DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) freak storm on Friday night. Lots of wind, lots of lightning, lots of rain. Not a lot of power thanks to lots of downed tree limbs/trees. Thankfully, my house got power back by Saturday morning, but many others weren't so lucky. I know several people who still don't have power back. That makes for some hot weather inside and out.