I am sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I have been busy. I am in Washington doing research at the Library of Congress for my Joseph Hawley book. The Hayfoot and I have also been hitting some Theodore Roosevelt-related sites. They have not been posted yet, but I am writing a series of posts for the Roosevelt Birthplace Facebook page about various Roosevelt-in-Washington places. Look for those later this week on the TRB Facebook page.

We intentionally chose three in the Dupont Circle area to make it easier logistically. When we visited Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s house (2009 Massachusetts Avenue, NW), a dour lady from the Washington Legal Foundation, the site’s current occupant, told us it is not a public space and shut the door in our faces. Oh well. We had a good laugh about it.

The book is very much in the nascent stages but it is finally starting to gel. Looking at reels and reels of microfilm is exhausting but the hardest part was realizing the scope and tome of the book. I had that epiphany the other night and when I did the load got a lot lighter. I guess the whole thing from start to finish will be a process with forward and backward steps. It is amazing what can happen when you just start.

Working on this book project and writing content for the TRB website, along with my volunteering duties at the site, are going to be my intellectual pursuits for 2014. Despite a few crises of confidence it has been so far so good.