C A P I C O S T I A

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer COYOTES are loose in Southeast Washington, D.C. ..and ANC-7B, most specifically! We're surrounded by deep, unspoiled, picturesque woodlands in Fort Davis, Dupont Park, Penn Branch, Randle Highlands, Pope Branch Park, Hillcrest and Westover! That's charming...even comforting to some of us, ..but these areas also offer shelter and food resources - Nature's supermarkets - to our resident wildlife. So let's be careful, out there, coming home or taking out our garbage after dark. No, amigo--that's NOT the neighbor's COLLIE. Where'd Mr. Paul's Collie go? Lassie...? Oh, no. (Original photo from Wikipedia ) Do you know how long I've been telling my Fairfax Village neighbors that we've got coyotes passing through, along our patios, back doors, parking lots and back walkways? They have been sniffing around and foraging from our trash, since at least 2012, ..and spotted as far Southeast as Savannah Terrace, just off of Stanton Roa...

The gentlemen of 'East Washington Heights', had big plans for the land between the Hill and Anacostia. [Photo from PennAveEast.com] If I had a nickel for every time someone in the blogosphere outright dismissed the authenticity of this blog's title, Capicostia, ..or asked me what the hell it pointed to in Washington, D.C. - well, I wouldn't be publishing an obscure blog on a Friday night, let me tell you... Ha. In the 1980s, at Jefferson Junior High School in DC's Southwest Waterfront District, ..if your East-of-the-Anacostia-River home's close proximity to the John Philip Sousa Bridge, the Anacostia River beneath it or Capitol Hill on the other side of that bridge ..confused you enough to think you actually  lived on Capitol Hill...no worries! If you said it out loud in a classroom, after being told that by sympathetic elders, hoping to give your or their egos, a boost,  ..there was always someone happy to correct you - tp talk you down..."Nau-uuw, son. ...

The Poowe Brothers, Hubble and Kirby, patrolling historic Peace Landing in happier times. [Photo, Mel Dyer collection.] by Edgar Miraculous Dyer SNOWSTORM...this one, forecast to be one of the worst our region has ever seen. The following shares some thoughts I recently shared on Facebook: Thinking about it coming here, to Washington, D.C. and the foot and a half of snow, local news says it will dump on us, ..depresses me, greatly. Our cottage in Penn Branch has been a difficult place to be in storms, like this, ..because we are on the backstreet of a side street, off of Pennsylvania Avenue and a good hike from Capitol Hill. DC Government has historically been slow in servicing/clearing our streets, which, in spite of our BEST individual efforts to prepare to be ready for the WORST outcomes, ..leaves us trapped on our hill and cut off from speedy response by emergency services and resources. I cannot watch the local TV news coverage of the storm, anymore. It's simply too much to ke...

CENTS OIL CO is the kind of fuel delivery company that so many older, oil-burning households in Washington, DC's  Capitol Hill and  East-of-the-River neighborhoods (Capitol Hill, Skyland,  Penn Branch-Hillcrest, Marshall Heights,  Anacostia, Congress Heights and more) ..depend on. Penn Branchers, like me, choose Cents, because it's e xceptional. Nothing common about this Cents! Competent, right-on-time SERVICE with SKILLED engineers and smart PRICES ..is the standard. It's also an environmentally responsible company, ..keeping its impact on the  SAFETY of  our water and  air, right here in South and Northeast DC and the rest of our Nation's Capitol, a top priority. Capicostia's got CENTS . Get some Cents, out there!  Call CENTS at (202) 498-2367. Mel Dyer CENTS OIL COMPANY 5600 Sargent Road,  Hyattsville,   MD   20782

I wish that I had better words and means to express my thanks to and consideration of the heroic VETERANS among us. I do not... But will try most earnestly, with what I have. To the men and women, who served our country in uniform...answered a call to sacrifice their civil security to defend our collective and individual FREEDOM, ..put their bodies in harm's way, between their fellow Americans at home and this great nation's very real enemies ..to preserve DEMOCRACY, ..I cannot match in words my GRATITUDE to each and every one of you. To the brave Americans we've lost in these noble enterprises, to the people, struggling with grievous, life-long injuries...seen and unseen, incurred in BATTLE, ..and to their families...our expressed gratitude doesn't seem enough, for what you've sacrificed. Let us serve you, now, in any way we can, as selflessly as you've served all of us. For your unique courage and patriotism, when we seek the finest examples of the American ch...

From W-JLA Channel 7 News "...At a time when D.C.'s office vacancy rate has soared and many businesses have either left or are struggling – especially downtown...D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert...emphasized that $19.6 million in grants are available...$3 million available in grants to help businesses that want to open or expand in commercial space that has been vacant for at least six months downtown..." A patron saint for Downtown Washington's bloat, gouging, sharky office space developers? (Shark-R Salas/M Bowser-AP/C Brehman/Photomanip-Capicostia) From the Capicostia Desk... 'Bail out' may be a more fitful accounting of Mayor Muriel Bowser's valiant campaign to revitalize a Downtown Washington, underwater with vacant, overpriced office buildings and retail spaces, not accruing valuable revenue for the DC Treasury - more fitful than 'prop up', I think. The loss of revenue, being ...

WHO'LL LEAD SEVEN BEE INTO THE FUTURE IN 2024? Will it be Candidate For Ward 7 City Council... WENDELL FELDER? http://www.wendellforward7.org Take your Sevenbeeism to the polls on June 4, 2024! See you there! Edgar Miraculous (Mel) Dyer, without his fine, coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby (now moved on to that big, coyote-hatin' hate group in the Sky) continues a somewhat bleaker, dogless existence in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC. He has been an active member of the Latino Culture Council of the Capitol Area (El Consejo de Cultura Latina – La Zona del Capitolio) and the Kiwanis Club of Capitol Hill.

By Mel Dyer At ease, with our own... Knowing our own and what it took to get us here, to this moment. Having respect for that...that's Sevenbeeism. That's part of it. The last three and a half decades, post Civil Rights Movement, post-desegregation, post-riot, post-urbanism, post-inflation, has been rough on Penn Branch ..and the rest of Seven Bee (ANC-7B), generally speaking. We want commercial development - now, it's here - and always have, ..but, not the kind that attracts people, who don’t respect or appreciate the wholesome, small-towny, slightly Cosbyesque thing we’ve got going here–the Brancher Way. If gang violence, over-crowding, loitering and the pungent fragrance of urine wafting up Carpenter Street is the price of having a cineplex and steakhouse burgers and a proper bar in the neighborhood... No thanks! We also like people! We like music, color and laughter in the air! We like carefree retirees, newlyweds, families and big, goofy dogs! We like to work hard an...

[Based on thoughts expressed in "To Fight Another Day", published here, 1/30/10] We are  good people , Brancher. In spite of those who would prey upon and destroy us — of those, who cruise our tree-lined hills with jealousy and contempt for the peace our parents and grandparents have worked so hard to give us — we ought to go right on  being  good people. We live in a place, where you can look straight up into the sky on a clear, starry night and see a flurry of golden, shooting stars raining like gold coins from the heavens ..or the International Space Station pass overhead, looking very much like a traveling planet. We live in a place, where our children carelessly play outside, well after nightfall, and summer lovers steal kisses in the shade of dogwood trees, ..bewitched by the fragrance of Concorde grapes on a passing breeze—where old, silver-haired friends look back on harder times from the cool comfort of a brick patio ..and laugh out loud! We live in a truly bless...

by Mel Dyer Has anyone asked women, why they aren't voting for women presidential candidates? Who they want to vote for? Why more women didn't vote for Elizabeth Warren, in the Democratic primaries? Considering that women still outnumber men, by roughly SEVEN percent, in the US population, must we ask how women party nominees and presidential candidates keep losing? Where were the women for Warren? Why aren't we asking women what kind of presidential candidates they want to vote for? When women want to elect a woman for president, I think women will let us know. Furthermore, there won't be a blamed thing anybody can do to stop them. For the interim, all of the speculation, as to why Senator Elizabeth Warren is not on her way to becoming the Democratic Party nominee ..is a little too late. Read... Click here and read MORE.  

by Mel Dyer I am not a fan of proposed D.C. statehood, as I do not presently think Wards Seven and Eight are poised to benefit from it, ..but imagine the possibilities for a new River East! Ever wonder what would happen to our River East neighborhoods, if Washington, D.C. became a state...was it Douglass Commonwealth (DC)? Will our eight wards become eight, new  counties?  Will the Advisory Neighborhood Councils, within those eight wards, become distinct and exciting, new  towns? Let's start, right here, ..with Seven Bee.  Presently, we're a cluster of obscure neighborhoods, between historic Anacostia and Capitol Hill, with no unifying culture, civic relevance ..or identity. Imagine us, suddenly, our own municipality, ..just like Washington, DC. What would we call ourselves? 1.  Davistown, DC - taken from historic Fort Davis 2. Hillcrest  City , DC  - named for historic first neighborhood of ANC-7B 3....

by Mel Dyer I think that what Dr. Michio Kaku is saying in this YT video is that America's education system doesn't prepare us to compete, at the college level, in math and the sciences. I would have to, however reluctantly, ..agree with him. I wasn't exposed to the celebrated 'British system' for math education, until I was in my sophomore year of high school - summer school, in fact - and easily performed at the highest level, after having struggled with math for years, in American schools, making Cs and Ds. The following fall, I went back to performing poorly in math - the American system having pretty much destroyed my confidence, in my natural mathematic abilities. Wondering what any of this has to do, with living in Capicostia...with you or your family, specifically? How are the kids of (ANC) Seven Bee measuring up? Are they ready to dominate [Yes, liberals... dominate. It's what every other nation is striving to do.] the Global Marketplace? ...

The best way I can describe the house, at 3706 Bangor Street SE  (20020), in Hillcrest, is to say that [Sigh.] ..it's like a plaid shirt, on a CALVIN KLEIN model. Seriously...this must be seen to be believed. You're welcome. https://www.trulia.com/p/dc/washington/3706-bangor-st-se-washington-dc-20020--2090399395

BATMAN remembers the old Penn Branch being rather lively.   by Mel Dyer The public safety situation has much improved, at our Shops at Penn Branch, since the publication of my last article on the subject. The CHARACTERS and panhandlers no longer gather in any number, noticeable enough to alarm, annoy or distract from keeping ourselves safe, going about our business, there. Penn Branch no longer operates in an environment that attracts criminal opportunists; so, let us assume that the prospects for intimidation, purse-snatchings, slightly more violent smash-n-grabs and straight-up ARMED ROBBERY ..are significantly less, than before. Chronic vagrancy is not tolerated by the 7-Eleven stores in Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Georgetown or Spring Valley - I've been to those stores - and I can tell you it is not tolerated in Penn Branch, either. I have spoken with the owner of our 7-Eleven, and, believe me, ..she is working so hard to keep her store and storefr...

by Mel Dyer A 'Capicostia' blog?  Again? Kinda trying this on. Feeling it out. Capitol Hill + Anacostia = Capicostia?! I think River East needs a blog that speaks to the frustration and quiet hysteria of what it's like to live here, but, sometimes, feel some small part of you might belong on the other side of the river, ..where political intrigue and urbanity slink down the sidewalks, stopping for the occasional latte or imported beer. Mmmm...I'll cop to the angst. Even if you won't. There's something about living here, ..in Penn Branch, Fairfax Village, Pope Branch, Dupont Park, Twining, Hillcrest, the Randall Highlands and probably Fairlawn, too, ..that's different than living in other parts of River East, and the culture-angst is something only we can understand. When you think about it the only thing separating us from Capitol Hill and everything the Hill represents--sophistication, culture, history, relevance, style--is a stupid bridge and ...

  There's a reason Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, newly born son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, won't properly be 'His Royal Highness', ..and it's got nothing to do with his mother being a commoner or a biracial African American woman. And so long as he's 'Prince Archie' to you and your aunties, ..does it matter?   What does any of this have to do with living, between bloody Capitol Hill and Anagoddam'costia? Absolutely nothing. TownAndCountryMag.com breaks it all down for us, here. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a27421887/archie-harrison-mountbatten-windsor-title-prince-charles-king/

by Mel Dyer Just finished browsing  DCLofts.com  and found one--ONE--converted loft property in Southeast, on Capitol Hill (of course) called the  Bryan School Lofts , ..which are all  sold out .  The Bryan School  was done by award-winning  Abdo Builders , and probably cost a vital organ AND a limb to own. Frankly, they are a little too polished for my tastes--scrubbed of all the rugged, Industrial Era charm that ought to be evident in converting an old school, garage, trolley car barn or factory into functional living space. These Abdo lofts look like the  Sex In The City  ladies hang out there. They're sissy lofts, and I hate'm. Lofts used to be the large, unattractive, slate gray ruins of an obsolete industrial era that no style-conscious yuppy would be caught dead in. In the 1950's, lofts were places, where a  large , lower income, working class or struggling immigrant family could stake a claim in the steamy, jazz-scored urban e...

  By Mel Dyer   While I don't spend as much time, there, as I used to, I can't give up hope that my home of over twenty years, FAIRFAX VILLAGE, will soon escape the pessimism that some of us have inflicted upon it, since the early 1970s, ..and return to its pastoral niceness, someday. While I have enjoyed friendships, with a wide variety of people from every corner of the planet, I don't think the Village needs cultural OR economic gentrification to make that happen.   Inflicted? Did I say... yes, ..I did. So, what am I talking about?   In the late 1960s, there used to be an Italian restaurant - a RISTORANTE, with a piazza and bistro tables, with candles on them, at night - literally, a mere couple of blocks, from my condo. Long before I moved here in 1995, lovers, old ones and young ones, used to amuse each other, over candlelight, in that piazza, ..right up the street. What happened? I don't care if the lovers are East Indian, Polish, Jamaic...

  The Marine Corps War Memorial from CNBC.com   Wishing all of you, who have answered the call to defend our great nation, here in Seven Bee and everywhere...a dignified and respectful Veteran's Day celebration.   Mel Dyer