Sylvia's Journal

I am indulging, in DC, in a reflective exercise that is rare in our busy and action-oriented work. We are reflecting, face to face, in a small group of people who have worked on several senior leadership programs, the last one just completed a month ago in Addis. There is much to learn. We are learning amongst ourselves, which is both great and a pity, because some other critical partners are not at the table. Sometimes we want things that are simply not possible and so we learn in stages.

Learning usually happens around the edges of doing, but this time there is also some ‘doing’ around the learning edges, which means that I am working at night and also taking my meals with colleagues. So, sorry to my DC-based friends – there will be next times, and they are always better when Axel and I visit DC together.

Thinking I was traveling south it never occurred to me to check temperatures; and so I left without a scarf and a hat. That was a mistake. It was 24 degrees last night with a biting wind circling around the tall buildings. I went to nearby Macy’s to see if they would have some cheap scarves and hats on a post-holiday sale but they must have sold most of their stock. What was left was both hideous and overpriced and my Dutchness took the better of me. I rather suffered the cold than pay 35 dollars for an ugly hat to keep me warm.

The cold weather made me crave Italian food, and more specifically for pasta with wild mushrooms, a good glass of red wine, and, if at all possible a fire place. The latter I had to do without; restaurants with fireplaces are not very common here in the suburbs of DC. I did have the other two, the wild mushroom pasta and a nice glass of red wine in an otherwise empty restaurant – it must have been too cold for an evening out.