through the walls i hear my neighbors arguing and shouting profanities, constantly. the family seems so unhappy, so angry. i think about their lives and wonder how they allowed life to leave them...in a trap. i wonder if they were ever happy. i wonder how they initially met. was it through a mutual friend or perhaps at a bar. i wonder if when they met they were filled with excitement and promise. if when they had their first child, they were beaming with happiness. i wonder if they ever imagined they would one day be at each others throats and seemingly miserable. i wonder if they hate one another. if they blame one another. if they ever think about leaving one another. if their children ever feel as though they are burdens.
life is so precious, so beautiful. how have they lost sight of that?

historic brickyard

for years i have passed by a place that my imagination told me was a haunted secret government facility. a place where spies would interrogate the enemy or where mind control experiments would occur. the place is located next the US Arboretum. there sits about 7 brick buildings, 4 of which are round domes standing 4 stories high. there is a structure that resembles a prison cell block, with individual cells and gates. this place was certainly something amazing while it was operational. however, the round brick buildings have finally lost their seasonal fights against the elements, grass and weeds abound and the mood of the place is more haunting rather than secretive. lauren and i decided to engage in "operation round brick place" today and take some photos. while lauren was snapping away, i was on high alert thinking the US Government official we briefly spoke with and told us the area was off limits, was going to come back and arrest us at any minute. thankfully, he never showed. roaming around the area was pretty neat. it felt like walking back in time. when we returned home, lauren called the Arboretum and learned that the area was an old brickyard that was built in 1909 and closed down the following year. this brickyard was worked by brick laborers that were members of the Isaac Cohen Brotherhood of Labor which was formed in washington dc in 1878. exploited black laborers at federal brickyards established black labor unions in the attempts to secure better working wages and proper treatment. the isaac cohen brotherhood of labor was one of these unions.