A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Daisy Chain Gang: As if a probe by the New York Times wasn’t enough, the Cleveland Park/Chevy Chase/pan-Upper Northwest flower thief’s shenanigans continue to blow up conversation on neighborhood email lists. This, yesterday, from the Glover Park Community Gardens Committee: “Oer the years a man has stolen peonies from many of the garden plots at the Glover Park Community Gardens (GPCG) as well as other flowers from community gardens and private property in Northwest DC to sell to flower dealers.” According to MPD, the only way to apprehend the flower child is to catch him red handed. Well, today someone posted video of the alleged flower thief, with a description: “’This was taken on Military Rd. today, heading west near metro. He is carrying blue hydrangeas. Did not see him steal them. Couldn’t follow into metro. He is carrying a likely stolen armful of hydrangeas. For what it’s worth, this is the same man I saw stealing them ten (10) years ago.’”
Security Blanket: On the East of the River email list, a member warns, “I had a visitor/predator to my door saying he represented my alarm system company (ADT/Broadview) and was doing a security check. I have no problems w/my system nor did the company alert me to problems nor say that someone in dress shirt and slacks would be stopping by. Alarming to me: he said ‘I thought you were a senior. I don’t see a senior here.’ And tried to laugh this off like I’d find humor in his deceptive practices…After he left, I called his ‘company,’ someone answered and when I began to question the guy, he disconnected the call. The Website is bogus too.” Someone else had a similar experience: “A man also rang my doorbell yesterday with a clipboard and pen in his hand. Peering from my peephole, I saw no company truck, car, van with a logo on it. He was not in uniform. He was light complexioned, approximately 5’8″, with a slight build, perhaps 155 lbs, brown hair with a close cut. I was not expecting company, his nor anyone else’s so he, like any other unsolicited, unknown, unwelcomed doorbell ringer got a cold reception. He was left out in the cold. Rather in the heat.”
Street Fighting Raccoon: Someone on the Adams Morgan email list warns of a raccoon prowling the neighborhood. Apparently he’s prone to fights: “Someone posted coming across a stray cat that looked like it had been in a fight. There’s a raccoon who’s been prowling Euclid Street and it got into a fight with an alley cat last week (at least it sounded like one heck of a rumble). I saw him in my backyard a few minutes after the fight, and then saw a cat scramble away down the alley. The raccoon has been seen on Euclid Street, and in the backyards on both sides of Euclid. He’s friendly enough – and damn cute – although you definitely don’t want to get too close to any raccoon. From the various sightings, he doesn’t appear to be rabid.”
Secret’s Out: The so-called Secret Safeway in Dupont Circle is set to be replaced by a specialty food market called Glen’s Garden Market. One subscriber to the Dupont Forum email list is elated—in part because she thinks Dupont Circle is a food desert. She writes, “This is truly wonderful news, and will hopefully fill a need in a ‘food desert’, especially in a pedestrian community. (Do hope they have fish too.)”