Living at WAL (Watergate at Landmark)

 I'm in the mood for praising life at WAL.  I kid about the sign at our front gate -- in BIG letters "Watergate" in much smaller letters "at Landmark".  So glad the accepted slang for our home community is WAL.  No way that will be confused with THE Watergate in the District.

For my 1st essay on why I love living here, see the post from December 2013 entitled "How to Survive a Winter Storm Condo-style." (https://grannyburkes.blogspot.com/2013/12/how-to-survive-winter-storm-condo-style.html)

To fight cabin fever during this long COVID epidemic, I can get fresh air out on my balcony and enjoy the view.

Our outdoor pool opened over the Memorial Day Weekend.

While the air temperature was warm the water -- not so much.

We are residents of the West End of Alexandria, also known as Condo Canyon.  All politicians hate the area because it's so hard to canvass unless you have volunteers living on property.  

The most famous neighborhood is Old Town where we first lived but I longed for closet space -- your typical home in Old Town is very small and expensive compared to the other neighborhoods.  When our real estate agent showed us our current home with THREE closets just in the foyer I had to have it.  We have a K unit -- 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths and I have a walk-in closet, George has 2 closets, there are 2 more in the hall, and I converted the 1 in my office into a filing cabinet with shelves on either side -- heaven.  Units in the community range from efficiencies to our unit which is the largest.  

Back to the view from our balcony -- we get some pretty sunrises and sunsets, as well as interesting shots of the thunder storms that have become all too common.

I gave management permission to use the above photo on our web site.  Typical sunrise.

Another sunrise while playing with my wide angle lens.  In this shot you can see buildings 1, 2, and part of 3 out of the 4 in the community.  The building on the right is not part of WAL.

Sometimes during sunrise we get the fog rolling off the Potomac River.  While I can't see the river from my balcony -- too many trees in the way --  I can see across the river into Maryland.

Our view faces east but sometimes we can get spectacular sunsets -- in this instance the sun behind my building was shining on the cloud formation, creating this lovely sky.

Fall  foliage is always spectacular.

. . .and the all too often thunder storms.  We can watch them roll in.  Each year they seem to be more frequent and stronger.

Recently the Science Club for our students and the Social Committee sponsored a Kite Festival that kicked off with the students making their kites.  I had some neighbors over to enjoy my view of the Meadow where the the students were going to fly their kites -- just one tiny problem -- no wind.   Oh well, everyone seemed to be having a good time anyway.

The following photo is from the June newsletter: