Washington has experienced an unusually pleasant summer this year. August, normally a month best spent underground, was filled with sunny, breezy, low-humidity days and relatively cool evenings. Julie and I took advantage of this by taking a backpacking trip to Shenandoah, seeing Les Miserables at the outdoor amphitheater, Wolf Trap, and spending several nice evenings eating water-ice (a combination of soft-serve custard and flavored, shaved ice) at the new Rita's across from our gym.

On September 5 and 6, tropical storm Hanna gave DC a glancing blow as it moved northward along the Atlantic coast. The storm's duration was short, but it dumped a significant amount of rain in the short time it passed. Rock Creek swelled to river size and a large tree fell with a large crack outside of our apartment building, blocking all of Harvard Street and crushing a parked truck. I captured the following short video just after the storm passed with my new Canon HV30. It shows the creek, the tree, and the beautiful sunset after the storm. The video is best viewed at vimeo.com in HD and full-screen.