Bustin’ out bricks, originally uploaded by packetrat.

You can’t wall over Baltimore’s red-brick soul, apparently.

The mists of soccer-tryout, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Arriving just before 7 am at Hereford School (after getting up at gods hour in Hampden) to drop off my son for soccer tryouts, we discovered tryouts didn’t start until 8– and the field was barely visible.

Hyrax, originally uploaded by packetrat.

We got brief relief from the sun at the zoo in the Small Mammal House, where this hyrax was demonstrating the leg-dangle chill with the 100-yard stare. I often wonder how even small mammals can deal with the boredom and stress of being in the same space all day long, every day. And then I look around my office….

cuttlefish, originally uploaded by packetrat.

The place to be last Saturday in DC was the National Zoo, and apparently everyone got the memo. We tried to slip into the Invertebrates exhibit, but anyone with an endoskeleton could not move around much. That bit of over-strained air-conditioning and claustrophobia inducing closeness came quickly to an end.

However, we did get a chance to say hello to the cuttlefish before we dashed off to see the vertebrates outside.