New in the neighborhood...

After much polite cajoling on the part of some of my new DC friends, I am pleased to announce the launch of the 'Earl of Eckington'. I haven't had a blog since my Peace Corps days and I don't intend for this to take over my life but occasionally you will find my observations concerning the goings on in the Eckington neighborhood of NE Washington, DC...my home for the next year.

To start, I want to provide some background on my new surroundings:

You can start with the wikipedia article on the neighborhood, which will give some historical context to this area.

You can then check out my fellow Eckington blogger HERE. While s/he also links to the wikipedia article they have also come across historical photos and there are links to more.

Finally, there's the conventional media's take on the neighborhood with this WashPo article from earlier this year.

What you will gather from these sources and if you care to walk the streets of Eckington is definitely the sense that this neighborhood is evolving. My impressions are still limited (I will be celebrating my two week anniversary here as of tomorrow) but this blog is meant to chronicle my arrival here in DC and Eckington, as well as my impressions of life in the neighborhood. I plan on getting involved in the area and so I should have ample fodder for my posts here. Furthermore, as a minority in the neighborhood, my posts here will be informed somewhat by my three years spent living in a similar context in the Eastern Caribbean. Happy reading!