Suburban cottage

In 1883, Takoma Park was established in the wooded northern outskirts of Washington, DC as one of the capital city's earliest commuter suburbs. Adjacent to the B&O Railroad and with an abundant supply of clean, fresh water, it appealed to residents whose work was in the city, but who sought a healthy, non-urban lifestyle. Over the decades, TP has attracted educated non-conformists and liberal minded activists. Although in recent years real estate prices have skyrocketed and buying there has become less affordable, it still deserves its reputation as a community of ethnic and economic diversity. And it's a really pretty place.

Lately I've become well acquainted with one of the older neighborhoods, a pocket of modestly scaled houses nestled at the edge of the mature woods along Sligo Creek. Since my first visit, I've thought that this lovely stone and brick cottage, perfectly perched at the crest of a small knoll, could have come straight out of an illustrated book of children's fairy tales. Too consumed by life's madness this past month to do much drawing, it seemed a good place to begin working my way back to what keeps me sane.