It’s almost as if Washington really paid attention to the summer solstice. This town hops like mad in the springtime—-from the Cherry Blossom festival all the way through Pride Weekend, the place is mayhem. Street closings, marathons, road races, everything—-don’t even bother driving near the downtown/federal core on a weekend. You’re just going to get stuck in traffic.

But spring ended last weekend, and this weekend, it’s as if everyone marked their lunar calendar and said, “Yeah, D.C.’s not a summer place—-I am outta here.” Place felt absolutely abandoned.

Some notes on things:

Washington Post sent Paul Farhi to Los Angeles to cover the Michael Jackson aftermath. Sunday’s front page brought some results: A story about how officials are seeking a second interview with Jackson’s personal doctor. Not bad, but we need more, Farhi! Stay out there, and good on the Post for investing in this story.

Eli Saslow, making an appearance on the Metro desk, chimes in with a big narrative about the Metro crash. The piece starts really slowly, as if you’re, like, getting on a Metro train. But it picks up pace, again, just like a Metro ride, toward the middle.

And, you know, you can never go wrong with this fascinating piece on how this whole firetruck—Dominican Republic story went down.