terrycloth

Meanwhile in petty business. The passenger-side headlight on my car burned out, which very slightly irked me since I was pretty sure I had just replaced it last year? The year before? Not too long in the scheme of things, anyway. But in replacing it I saw, as if for the first time, that the passenger headlight casing had a lot of moisture in it. I can't swear there was actually rainfall in it, but it was close. Way too many beads of water, at least, which I can't swear didn't have something to do with why the light was so dim even when a working bulb was in place.

So, off to the car dealership, where they explained they recommend replacing the whole fixture when it's that wet inside. This seemed reasonable enough to me and so I came back a couple days later after the one they ordered got in. The headlight assembly was more expensive than I would have guessed, but the installation was a lot quicker; I don't think it could have taken an hour.

The result was a great success. The like-new fixture is dry as far as I can tell, and without 147,000+ miles of colliding with air to cloud it up, it's ferociously bright. To the point that now my driver's side fixture looks pathetically dim. bunnyhugger was surprised I didn't get both changed at the same time and now that I've seen how much better the light looks? I might go for it the next time I'm getting the car serviced. We'll see.

Now to see Glen Echo Park, though, once upon a time an amusement park on the outskirts of Washington D.C. and now a national park with a special feature.

We're getting closer to the excitement: we've found UFOs!

And here's the thing we most wanted to get to. Glen Echo Park's kept its antique carousel, and it's got the care and attention that a Smithsonian exhibit gets, only you can ride it.

And hey, why did an amusement park on the outskirts of a big and growing city like Washington, D.C., close in the 60s? Could it have anything to do with finally being forced to integrate? (If an amusement park closed in the 60s, there's a good chance it was because Black people were finally allowed in any old day and the white people were not even remotely normal about it.)

The stand claims Pop Corn, but it's really more Art Deco. (It's been decades since you could get snacks there regularly.)

Here's a picture explaining about the history of the ride, along with a picture of the thing you're right in front of.

... And here it is! Notice the two Dentzel rabbits on the inner rows, just behind the tiger?

Trivia: In 1906 New Orleans had only two vaudeville houses, the Greenwald and the Orpheum. In 1921, when the city's population was 387,408, there were four: Loew's Crescent, the Louisiana, the Orpheum, and the Palace. Source: The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, Anthony Slide.

Currently Reading: Prehysterical Pogo (In Pandemonia), Walt Kelly.

You may, dimly, remember that a couple years ago we snagged some fallen tree limbs after a heavy storm knocked them down all over the neighborhood. And last year we even got a chainsaw to cut them down to the roughly footlong installments that would fit well in our fireplace insert. What we had not done is split the wood so there'd be both bark and exposed ... you know ... wood innards to make for good fire-having.

A couple weeks back bunnyhugger got something that promised to simplify the wood-splitting trade around here. It's a gadget that holds a blade upwards, so that you set the wood on top and hit it with a sledgehammer over and over. The advantage of this over the splitting maul we had is how this lets you save intermediate progress. Only split the wood a couple inches? That's fine, it'll stay there, balanced in place, ready for the next hit. bunnyhugger tried this on her own a couple days ago and was able to split several logs that she would never have been able to do by maul.

Now I finally had the chance to try it out and, you know, it works quite nicely, especially on wood that's been sitting in the driveway two years or whatever it is now. It can take a fair number of starter taps to get it wedged enough to stand upright on the blade. And it can take several reasonable swings to start it going. But once the wood starts splitting it just cracks apart like you're Popeye punching a cinder block or something. Very satisfying. After I'd cut enough for the night's purposes I had to restrain myself from doing just one more log.

Now in our extreme tour: after a full day at Six Flags America we would need to be driving on, hoping to meet up with my brother and then get to HersheyPark. But first ...

The view from our hotel! At least, from the window beside the elevator. We were a whole ... twelve? ... floors up and this was the highest up we'd been somewhere in a while.

And here's the view outside in Cinerama!

So our first visit was to Glen Echo Park, once upon a time an amusement park and now a National Park, with echoes of the amusement park still there. Also, the place was next to New Jersey heroine Clara Barton's final home.

Neat wooden bridge leading to what I imagine was always the back side of the amusement park. Don't worry, I have photos of the front.

Coming up to it we passed the Glen Echo Park Aquarium, closed when we visited, but with such let's say folk-art signage that we were enchanted and hope the animals are kept well.

Also ran across this sign hidden deep in the woods as we got closer to the former amusement park.

Trivia: George Washington was sworn in the 4th of March, 1793, to begin his second term as President. John Adams was not sworn in until the Senate met the 2nd of December, 1793. Source: From Failing Hands: The Story of Presidential Succession, John D Feerick. Adams, you of course recall, had in 1789 begun serving as Vice-President nine days before Washington was sworn in, although it would not be until June that there was even an oath of office for the Vice-President to swear.

Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Sundays Supplement Volume 20: 1958, Tom Sims, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.

PS: If you read about What’s Going on in Rex Morgan, M.D.? Wasn’t _Rex Morgan_ Supposed to Start Looking Weird? December 2025 – February 2026 I'll explain the rules of beloved childhood game Punch Belly Blue!