Tag: Maryland

From the Office

April 28, 2026 by Cassandra Johnson

DC has not changed much. A lot of restaurants and bars have fallen away, however. It has not changed a lot over the years from 2006. At the same time, a lot of places have closed and been replaced, there are a lot of old haunts that encompassed my newer stomping grounds in my second home following my home state. Some establishments are no longer there, just the old building itself, closed, a type of homage to its memory.

U Street. Dupont Circle. Farragut North. Just to name a few of my favorite neighborhoods and depending on what mood touched me, I liked to find myself in Georgetown, Farragut West, and some others up to the point where I really just got a kick out of visiting Friendship Heights ultimately moving into this chill neighborhood.

I was a little dejected in the beginning, however, because, though I liked Takoma Park, Maryland in which I had initially moved for a while, I had anxiously imagined living in DC proper. DC was not far. Two metro stops a way and a short walk was all, but traveling from Maryland through DC and working in Virginia was not quite matching the dream I had duly imagined since my eighth-grade trip of living in DC, once I had finished college. Of course, this was also most suitable for the images of me as a potential ambassador😊.

Though a little removed for the first several years, my curiosity for events and culture meant leaning into the proximity. I made a good habit of hanging in the District for museums, art, dining and special events, though I was ultimately coincidentally intrigued with the nearby cities in Maryland and Virginia.

I did not have as much interest in where I worked outside of DC, but grew to like it, as it encompassed what we affectionately call the DMV, just the same as where I lived in Maryland. I also increasingly appreciated being in this area.

The exposure gave me an introduction I was not expecting and experiences I otherwise may not have ever discovered. Where I worked and lived in those first few years added to my perspective. It was similar when picking international trips as a digital nomad. You land in other notable spots, make unexpected acquaintances, and even the sour moments shape all you are to be.

HERE TO THERE

MARCH 14, 2020 BY CASSANDRA JOHNSON

My heart is heavy with all the many lives, now lost to Coronavirus (COVID-19) in China and throughout the world. With my company’s new option, starting Monday, of being able to work from home for a week, I will do so accordingly. As someone who takes public transportation for quite some time to get there and back, I want to diminish the chance of being a harm to others or myself. Not everyone has options like I do, and I think people are commendable in all the various situations they are facing.

The gym has been a good healthy outlet for me to visit daily (save one alternating day). Working on my healthiness has done some work for my psyche in general and a nice bonus is that it is within walking distance. I also find it healthy to be able to be out and about and socialize in these continued smaller ways – being out – getting to the stores and the gym has been nice.

Ironically, I already imagine I will get more done working from home. I already know, per the chance we got to do so for about a month during our renovation. It has been quite the year already, well actually two years, I would say, starting with the flood that totaled most of my coworkers’ cars in the parking garage. We’ve had many ups and downs as a team.

Cuba. I coincidentally got a loving message from Dignora yesterday. I recalled her in my spontaneous audio suggestion on Wednesday as the first casa particular in which we stayed in 2016. She reached out to check on me and let me know they were okay. I think going through our tasks with extra special precautions is key. I think deeply even more of my fam in Ohio (where I grew up) and friends everywhere. I thought I had some gratitude before but I’m really appreciating life and how friendly and well-intentioned most people can be.

A lady asked me if I found any food as we were leaving the grocery store today😊. I said, “some” and asked her how she did? We’re lucky, in this particular store in DC, in Friendship Heights. I can’t speak to the whole DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia area) but it wasn’t rough at the store just a little up the street. Even when the toilet paper section was starkly bare, next to a lot of other products, there was a considerable number of items left. You only had to reach further back than normal for what you would normally get or settle for brands or items, close enough to what you might desire. Also, there was plenty of food stocked in the perhaps not so healthy areas😊. Then, lo and behold, a smiling Safeway employee rolled out a skid of toilet paper next to the self-checkout line to which I was heading. Even then, people only gingerly started taking one 12 pack two-ply at a time. I don’t know what happens after I leave or what’s going to happen but did I ever really know? We’re just kind of very accustomed to life being a certain way – and that’s okay too. A journey is a journey even when we’re close to home.

Lots of love,
Cassandra