Outside of Upton Hill Regional Park, I'd never seen a rabbit in Arlington. Until I started my canvassing for House of Delegates. At which time I realized we're in the middle of an silent, adorable invasion.Seriously, north of Wilson Boulevard and west of Glebe Road, they're all over the place. And they could not care less about people (except for our gardens, which they do enjoy). They'd go hopping right by like I wasn't even there. At first I started to try to sneak up on this one to take a picture ... then I realized he didn't care I was there and walked right up to it: 
And I, for one, welcome our new bunny overlords.
Caught this from the corner of Glebe & Quincy/Henderson on Wednesday evening, looking out over Buckingham. These clouds turned into some vicious thunderstorms just after they moved past Arlington:
As I walk through Arlington's 47th district talking to voters about my campaign for House of Delegates, I always come across fliers for various businesses that have been left at doors -- with varying degrees of care. A few are neatly tucked into doors, but most are left hastily -- and some are just thrown on the doorstep, like this one for Papa John's:
It results in litter across the county -- first in our neighborhoods as the fliers blow away, then in our streams as they wash down storm drains. Many are so heavily coated in chemicals they won't biodegrade easily.
I was knocking on doors in Alcova Heights and spotted this cat sporting the lion look -- a close-cropped cut except for its tail tip, legs and of course a long mane:
I was canvassing in Ballston yesterday when I came upon this house on Columbus Street near Washington Boulevard. It had a small pond with a fountain out front and two Mallards were happily swimming in it.When I knocked on the door, I was less interested in pitching my campaign than I was in hearing about the yard. Were the ducks regular neighborhood nesters?"They nested last year, but the eggs didn't hatch," the homeowner told me. "I think it was their first time. She didn't seem to have the hang of it yet."
While I was walking through Westover asking voters for their support in my race for House of Delegates, I noticed an open house at this green home for sale. The house was packed and the realtors told me they expected hundreds of visitors that day. Definitely not in my price range though, listed at $1,295,000. You can learn more about Arlington's green home choice program here.
On Saturday, I dropped off a yard sign at a supporter's home on George Mason Drive (his dog, Paco, came out to supervise). Andrew has solar panels that provide most of his home's electricity, even watching his electric meter spin backwards on sunny summer days. He's planning to add a few more to try to get off of Dominion's coal-fired power as much as possible. And of course, don't forget the Honda Civic Hybrid in the driveway.
If you'd like a Miles Grant for Delegate yard sign, email us!
Continuing the Scene from the Sidewalk series, here's a beautiful star magnolia I passed in Lyon Park while canvassing for my campaign. I only wish I could post the smell -- the blossoms made the whole block smell like fresh flowers.
With a hat tip to Andrew Sullivan's The View from Your Window, I'll be posting some photos from around Arlington as I canvass neighborhoods during my campaign for House of Delegates. We'll call it Scene from the Sidewalk. (Get it? Scene/seen? It's the best I could do on short notice.)
Here's the view from Kensington & 11th, with Westover Baptist Church in the background:
