Two Things Challenge: Hot / Cold

Hot candles in the chapel

This week's 2 Things Challenge was Hot / Cold. My interpretation includes the hot candles outside one of the 62 chapels in the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The basilica has become a regular stop when friends are in town because of its beautiful mosaics. When my friends Mike and Mary Ellen were here last weekend, I took them to see this stunning church.

Cold and frosty morning as seen through my car window

For cold, I chose a picture I snapped one morning through the window of my car. We had a cold snap that left a layer of frost on everything. I love how the crystals and the blue sky turned out on this one. Just looking at it makes me shiver.

There you have it! Want to see how others interpreted this challenge? Visit 2 Things Challenge and find out.

Friends

My best friend from grad school, Mary Ellen, has been in town this past week for a conference and then a little sightseeing and such. Her husband, Mike, was here as well for a few days. On Sunday, we went to see the mosaics at the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial at sunset

After that, we ventured out to the States to see the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Then we wandered back into the city and visited some of the monuments and memorials on the west end of the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial.

Mike and Mary Ellen at the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and at the Basilica

On Thursday, I'll post photos of our visit to the new Capitol Visitors' Center and the Library of Congress.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 02/09

Two Things Challenge: New / Hope

Our Lady of Hope Chapel : Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

This week's Two Things Challenge was New / Hope. Originally, I was going to do something along the lines of Barack Obama's use of the word "Hope" in his campaign, but then I couldn't find anything for that. What I finally narrowed it down to was a mix of secular and religious interpretations. For New, I chose this picture (see below) of my new color printer and the latest book I bought yesterday.

New book and new printer--a great way to start the year!

For Hope, I've chosen two photos I took at the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In the crypt church on the lower level are a number of chapels. These two pictures are of the Hope Chapel. The chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Hope and the money to build the chapel was given by Bob and Dolores Hope in memory of his mother, Avis Townes Hope.

Our Lady of Hope Chapel

Want to see how others interpreted this challenge? Would you like to participate? You can do both by visiting Two Things Challenge.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 01/09

Basilica

Backlit Basilica

I've featured this Washington house of worship before and I posted a couple of pictures as part of my SkyWatch Friday last week. I promised Cowbark I'd post more pictures this week.

The Christopher Columbus Window reflected on the wall
of the stairway leading up to the bell tower.

A couple of weekends ago, a friend of mine from high school was in town. We went to Hillwood Museum & Gardens, which I'll feature more of later this week, as well as to the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. These are just a few more of the pictures I took.

Niche off the Grotto Chapel on the Crypt level

If you'd like to see some additional photos featuring a handful of the more than 30 chapels and rosary altars in the Basilica, as well as the robes worn by Pope Benedict XVI when he visited Washington this past spring, see Standing Room Only.

Adoration

I liked the sun coming through the windows and resting on this woman in our tour group. She lingered a bit longer than the rest of the crowd, who moved on from the sanctuary in the Great Upper Church to see the icons for Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the same.


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 11/08

Skywatch + 100 Strangers

Looking heavenward in the
Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Technically speaking, this isn't a picture of the physical sky, but it is a picture of the metaphorical sky. Cathedrals and basilicas, with their soaring arches and domes, are meant to draw the worshipers' eye skyward toward heaven as a reminder of God. I recently took these photos at the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and thought they would be a nice twist for the weekly Skywatch challenge.

Detail of the ceiling partially seen in the first photo

*****

Contemplative

And, continuing my 100 Strangers series, I give you a photo of a gentleman contemplating things spiritual and praying the rosary in the same basilica. He looked so peaceful in the midst of all the chaos (i.e. a tour group full of 30 somewhat enthusiastic teenagers from a local Catholic school.)


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 11/08

Portrait of a Train by a Middle-Aged Photographer

Portrait of a Train
(Click image to enlarge.)

Whenever I have to meet with clients downtown, I usually take advantage of Metro rather than driving. It's cheap, I don't have to find and pay for parking, and someone else gets to do the driving. The other day while I was on the train, I noticed this mirror at the Brookland-CUA station. On the return trip home, I disembarked at this station just to be able to take pictures of Metro trains reflected in this convex mirror. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to get a picture of the train without factoring myself in the scene.

This isn't a flattering picture of me, obviously--no one looks good convex--but it's a good picture of the Metro train and the direction it's heading, which is downtown and then into the Maryland suburbs to Shady Grove.

As an aside, I'm wearing my pink windowpane Brooks' Brothers shirt and my pair of typewriter key cufflinks!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Urban Art or Blight?

Graffiti at the Brookland-CUA Metro station. Note in the center background of the picture,
the bell tower of the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

I'm not a huge, huge fan of graffiti, especially when it's meant to mark territory (which generally implies some kind of nefarious and illicit gang-type activity.) Occasionally though, there are pockets of this urban scrawl that catch my eye. One such spot is at the Brookland-CUA Metro stop near Catholic University of America. These two samples are especially interesting to me because, in the first, you can see the spire of the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I liked the colors in this tag and the juxtaposition of the basilica tower in the background.

Tribute in graffiti to slain Washington Redskins' football player Sean Taylor.

In the second, the graffiti is a tribute to Washington Redskins' free safety Sean Taylor, who was shot in his Miami, Florida, home in November 2007. He died a day later. I'm not a Redskins fan (I'm not really partial to any football team), but I thought this was a moving memorial to a young man who died too young and who had so much potential in the field of sport.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Mosaic

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Several months ago, I went with friends to visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in northeast Washington. I didn't have a camera with me that day, but today I was in the neighborhood and swung by to take some pictures.

Entrance to the Basilica

The origin of the basilica dates back to 1847, when Pope Pius IX "named the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States." Sixty-six years later, the rector of The Catholic University of America--Bishop Thomas Shahan--presented to Pope Pius X a plan to build a shrine to Mary next to the CUA. The pope not only approved, but he wrote a check for $400.

A portion of the mosaic in the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The cornerstone of the shrine was laid in 1920 by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, and the lower Crypt Church was completed in 1926. The Great Depression and World War II interrupted construction of the Upper Church, but in the 1950s construction resumed. Catholics nationwide responded generously to fundraisers and the shrine was completed and dedicated in November 1959. In 1990, Pope John Paul II "gave it the papal honor and title 'Basilica.'"

This mosaic is one of two that were presented to the basilica as gifts from the Vatican. What is particularly striking about this mosaic is that the tiles are made from naturally colored stones and are so delicate that, unless you look closely, the mosaic almost appears to be a painting.

All of the chapels within the basilica pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary and represent the universality of Catholicism with mosaics from Mexico, Czechoslavakia, Poland, China, the Philippines, Italy, and the United States.

A different angle of the Basilica

The basilica is the largest in the western hemisphere and the seventh largest Catholic church in the world. It is also the largest repository of mosaics in the world and includes mosaics that were gifts from John Paul II to the basilica. The last mosaic in the central dome will be installed and unveiled in 2009. Contrary to popular myth, the basilica is not the diocesan seat for the Diocese of Washington. That honor belongs to St. Matthew's Cathedral in downtown Washington.

The basilica is open daily for services and tours are free. There is also a cafeteria and book shop. Regardless of your religious upbringing, the basilica is a tour that is well-worth taking.

Zip: 20017

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (Janet M. Kincaid, 08/07)

Ballet

The Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington, D.C.

The arts are a core element in the character of Washington, D.C., and ballet is especially well-loved in this city. No ballet company is more famous than the Kirov Ballet of Russia. In 1990, at the behest of President George H.W. Bush, the Kirov established a school in Washington near Catholic University of America.

Today, the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington D.C. produces some of America's and the world's finest dancers.

Zip: 20017

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (Janet M. Kincaid, 08/07)