This picture belies the general awfulness of the weather the whole time I have been in Washington DC (with the exception of an extremely pleasant dinner at a sidewalk cafe in Georgetown with friends the first night – which was quite warm but turned out to be balmy compared to the blistering steambath-days that followed). So the neighborhood walking (and picture-taking) I could have done under other conditions, I did not do at all. Nothing much beyond my hotel room window by way of scenery, this trip.
Looking at yesterday's photos of modern art at the National Gallery, I newly appreciated the bold hand that stuck Rachel Whiteread's haunted house underneath a heavy ledge and suspended the Giacometti all alone high on the pedestrian bridge – these dispositions gave the East Wing atrium some of the (good) attributes of a cliff dwelling.