The Washington Post - 19.09.2019

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3

When bonsai

experts describe

one of their

miniature

creations, they

don’t talk about

when it was

planted. They talk

about how long

it’s been “in

training.” That’s

the year the painstaking process

of grooming the tree began.

Nick Gracenin has been in

training since 1977. That’s when

he started learning tai chi. Six

years later, he started teaching it.

On a recent Saturday morning he

was teaching it in a bonsai-filled

courtyard at the National

Arboretum.

“I encourage you to use the

shady areas,” Nick said to the 30

or so people who had gathered at

the National Bonsai & Penjing

Museum. Some were beginners.

Some had taken classes with

Nick before. One woman was

dressed in shiny blue silks:

flowing pants and a Mandarin-

collared shirt.

A butterfly floated past. A

hummingbird hovered. There

was the sound of water from a

fountain, inside of which rested a

bonsai bougainvillea — “in

training” s ince 1985, its fuchsia

flowers in bloom.

“Relaxing isn’t something you

make happen,” s aid Nick, 60.

“Rather, it’s something you allow

to happen.”

Easy enough for him to say.

Have you tried relaxing lately?

The planet’s boiling. Guns are

everywhere. The president keeps

tweeting.

“Close your eyes,” Nick said.

“Feel your heart rate slow down.”

I learned that morning that tai

chi is actually pronounced “tie

ji.” And bonsai is closer to “bone-

sigh.” The tai chi classes are

organized by the National Bonsai

Foundation, along with a bunch

of other offerings: yoga,

meditation, forest bathing

(described as the Japanese

practice of “meditation,

rejuvenation and contemplation”

amid the bonsai).

Many are followed by a private

tour of the arboretum’s collection

of bonsai and penjing, penjing

being the Chinese progenitor of

the Japanese bonsai. (Tickets to

the classes range from $15 to $35.

Visit bonsai­nbf.org for details.)

“Open your eyes,” Nick said.

“How do you feel? Lots of smiles.

Good.”

Except for seeing it in movies,

or catching a glimpse of senior

citizens in a park, I’d never

experienced tai chi before. It was

harder than it looked, requiring a

posture — knees slightly bent,

back slightly curled — that I

found difficult. I prefer to lock all

my joints rigidly in place, as if

they were Tinkertoys.

But I learned that doesn’t

work in tai chi.

Nick described various

elements of Chinese exercise: the

breath and energy work of qi

gong; the calisthenics of tao yin;

the “polarity boxing” of tai chi

chuan.

Chinese medicine, Nick said, is

all about circulation: moving it,

smoothing it, equaling it out.

“Think of it like water

flowing,” he said. “Water is the

stuff of life. If water is stagnant,

it becomes smelly.”

Ta i chi, he explained, is about

polarity, the idea of positive and

negative poles and finding the

balance between them.

“We could use more of that,”

Nick said.

Sounds good to me.

I called Nick up a few days

later to hear what it’s like to seek

balance in this most partisan of

towns. He grew up in western

Pennsylvania, north of

Pittsburgh. When Nick taught tai

chi there, joint injuries and back

problems were the physical

ailments he heard about most

often from his students.

“Here, the two biggest

complaints have always been, ‘I

don’t sleep well’ and ‘I can’t seem

to relax.’ ”

Washington is full of hyper-

driven, Ty pe A people who, Nick

said, ameliorate their lack of

relaxation in two ways: “You

binge watch TV till your brain

fries or you drink a lot to get your

mind off whatever’s bothering

you. The problem is, eventually

you have to face whatever it is

that’s bothering you if you want

to resolve it.”

Hear that, Congress?

“That doesn’t mean you let go

of it completely, but you need

balance in your life,” Nick said. “I

have as much stress in my life as

anyone else does. I think my

practice has been something

that’s really helped me through

challenges that have come

my way.”

The National Arboretum’s

bonsai and penjing collection

dates to 1976, its core component

a bicentennial gift of 53 trees

from Japan. The oldest tree — a

Japanese white pine — has been

in training since 1625.

It was in the nursery of the

Yamaki family of Hiroshima on

Aug. 6, 1945, the day the United

States dropped on atomic bomb

on the city.

The tree, behind a garden wall,

survived. So did the family.

“I think it’s both inspiring and

beautiful,” Nick said of the tree.

“To look at it and then be able to

practice tai chi alongside it is a

little mind-blowing the first

time.”

The little tree survived that

cataclysm. Here’s hoping we can

survive ours.

[email protected]

Twitter: @johnkelly

 For previous columns, visit

washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.

Experiencing relaxation among the arboretum’s bonsai collection

John

Kelly's

Washington

MARYLAND

Man killed, another

injured in shooting

Authorities are investigating a
shooting that left one man dead
and another wounded
Wednesday in the Prince
George’s County city of
Glenarden.
Police were called to a 7-
Eleven in the 7900 block of
Johnson Avenue about noon
after a man who was shot at a
nearby apartment complex went
to the convenience store to seek
help, Glenarden Police Chief
Philip O’Donnell said.
The man was taken to a
hospital, O’Donnell said.
During the investigation,
authorities discovered a second
man who had been shot in the
parking lot of the complex. He
was pronounced dead at the
scene. Police confirmed that
both were shot at the same place.
Police are working to
determine a motive and suspect,
O’Donnell said.
— Lynh Bui

Pr. George’s shooting

leaves one dead

A man was fatally shot
Monday in the Capitol Heights
area of Prince George’s County,
police said.
They said the man was found
about 8:50 p.m. in the 4100 block
of Byers Street near Nova
Avenue after officers responded
to a report of a shooting.
The man, who was
unresponsive, was taken to a
hospital, where he died. Police
identified the victim as Ty ler
Alexander Wilson, 26, of
Fredericksburg, Va.
— Martin Weil

VIRGINIA

I-66 lanes closed after

vehicle hits gantry

Eastbound Interstate 66 was
closed in the Centreville area for
more than four hours
Wednesday after a vehicle hit an
overhead gantry.
About 4:45 p.m., the Virginia
Department of Transportation
tweeted that the lanes were
closed after a vehicle struck the
gantry, which then was found to
be structurally unsound.
VDOT spokeswoman Ellen
Kamilakis said the sign was part
of a traffic management system
that was disabled for the
expansion of I-66.
There were no reported
injuries in the crash, she said.
Eastbound traffic was diverted
to Route 29 as crews worked to
remove the overhead structure.
The lanes reopened about 9 p.m.
— Justin Wm. Moyer

LOCAL DIGEST

BY JENNA PORTNOY

D.C. officials and advocates

have agitated for generations to

make the District the 5 1st state. On

Thursday, they make their case to

Congress.

For the first time since 1993, a

House committee w ill h old a hear-

ing on legislation that would turn

most of the nation’s capital into

the S tate of Washington, Douglass

Commonwealth.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D)

and D.C. Council Chairman Phil

Mendelson ( D) are among the w it-

nesses who will testify for state-

hood; constitutional scholar Rog-

er Pilon of the libertarian Cato

Institute will represent the oppo-

sition.

The bill, s ponsored b y Del. Elea-

nor Holmes Norton (D), the Dis-

trict’s nonvoting representative i n

the House, would reduce the seat

of the federal government to a

two-square-mile enclave, encom-

passing the White House, Capitol

Hill and the Supreme Court. The

rest of the District would become

the n ew s tate.

The legislation is silent on how

the District would disentangle it-

self from the federal government,

which currently pays more than

$1 billion annually to fund much

of the city’s c riminal j ustice system

including the courts, prison ser-

vices and supervision of offenders

released i nto the community.

Democrats who control the

House have embraced statehood

for the District as a civil rights

issue and the only way to give

residents equal representation in

Congress. House Speaker Nancy

Pelosi (D-Calif.) made the issue a

priority this session, and Norton’s

bill has more than 200 co-spon-

sors — all Democrats.

But Republicans who control

the Senate are united in opposing

statehood for the District, a move

th at some say would violate the

intention of the framers of the

Constitution.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch

McConnell (R-Ky.) has said mak-

ing the District a state would give

Democrats an undue advantage

because the city’s diverse and po-

litically liberal electorate is likely

to elect two Democratic senators,

increasing the party’s influence in

the S enate.

The argument irks Bowser, who

said the question comes down to

fairness. “ Yes, it is true that we are

brown and liberal, but denying

statehood would be u nfair no mat-

ter w ho was affected — it would be

unfair if we were conservatives

from a rural district built around

agriculture or an industrial city in

the h eartland,” s he said in testimo-

ny p repared for the h earing.

l How can I follow the hear-

ing?

The hearing is open to the pub-

lic and will begin at 10 a.m. in

Room 2154 of the Rayburn House

Office Building. Doors open at

9:45 a.m., and overflow seating

will be available.

The hearing will be live-

streamed on the committee’s You-

Tube page and Web page, and on

washingtonpost.com. People will

also gather in Spirit of Justice

Park, south of the Longworth

House Office Building, where TVs

and speakers will broadcast the

hearing l ive.

l What is the aim of the hear-

ing?

Members o f the House Commit-

tee on Oversight and Reform will

hear testimony and question wit-

nesses about Norton’s statehood

bill but have no plans to advance

the l egislation at t he moment.

Committee Chairman Elijah E.

Cummings (D-Md.) has said he

will hold another meeting to pre-

pare the bill for a vote on the

House floor.

With their party in control of

the House, Democrats are confi-

dent their bill can pass the House

this session but acknowledge it

has no chance in the Republican-

controlled Senate.

The last House hearing on

statehood was held in Norton’s

second term i n the House. The bill

failed badly o n the House floor.

l Can D.C. afford statehood?

In 1 995, the federal government

appointed a control b oard t o man-

age the city’s dismal finances,

stripping the District government

of much o f its limited a utonomy.

But today’s reality is “a far cry

from the image many still harbor

about the District,” Mendelson

said in p repared testimony.

The Revitalization Act, a bill

negotiated and p assed by a Repub-

lican-led Congress as part of the

Balanced Budget Act of 1997,

helped rescue the nation’s capital

from the brink of bankruptcy by

shifting certain District costs to

the f ederal government.

With a $15.5 billion budget and

more than 700,000 residents, the

District can support itself as a

state, supporters of statehood say.

District residents paid $28.4 bil-

lion in taxes i n 2018, more than the

residents of at l east 20 states.

l Who will testify for state-

hood?

Kerwin E. Miller, a retired Navy

Reserve commander and D.C. na-

tive, served in the military for 28

years. D.C. veterans have fought

and died in every U. S. war since

the American Revolution, and

about 30,000 District residents

are military veterans, he said in

prepared remarks.

Lawmakers will also hear from

Jeffrey S. DeWitt, the District’s

chief financial officer, and Kenneth

R. Thomas, an attorney with the

Congressional Research Service.

l How much will this cost?

DeWitt said in prepared re-

marks that some functions cur-

rently managed by t he federal gov-

ernment would fall to the new

state.

“The true financial impact of

District of Columbia statehood

will depend on policy d ecisions y et

to be made by Congress and the

newly elected state government,”

he said.

l Who will testify against

statehood?

Pilon of the Cato Institute has

cited several objections to state-

hood.

The framers did not want the

federal government to depend on

any one state, and no one state

should have disproportionate in-

fluence on the government, he ar-

gued. If Norton’s bill passes, he

said, the federal enclave will rely

on the new state for electricity,

water, snow removal and other

necessities.

Maryland would have to agree

to make the District a state be-

cause Maryland originally ceded

land to create the nation’s capital,

not for “a new state on its border,”

he said.

The 23rd Amendment gave Dis-

trict residents the right to vote for

president. A downsized nation’s

capital could control three e lector-

al votes, unless the amendment

were repealed, he s aid.

Critics have also said the Dis-

trict is too corrupt to be a state,

and the hearing comes as Jack

Evans, the longest-serving D.C.

Council member, i s the target of an

ongoing federal grand jury probe

into his official actions and his

private consulting business.

Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the top

Republican o n the committee, a nd

Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), called f or

Evans to testify because in a new

state he would become a state

legislator.

l What is D.C. government do-

ing to advance statehood?

The D.C. Council set aside

$1 million to promote the state-

hood campaign. Bowser on Mon-

day led a parade, complete with

American flags mocked up to fea-

ture 51 white stars, at a cost of

$31,206.

She a lso held a roundtable with

military veterans on Wednesday,

highlighting the sacrifice they

made for a nation that doesn’t

allow them full representation in

Congress.

[email protected]

THE DISTRICT

What to expect from the D.C. statehood hearing on the Hill

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), flanked by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), right, and backed

by 51 military veterans, kicks off “D.C. Statehood Week” on Pennsylvania Avenue NW on Monday.

Bowser is to testify at Thursday’s House hearing on Norton’s bill seeking state status for the District.

PHOTOS BY JOHN KELLY/THE WASHINGTON POST

ABOVE: A bonsai at the

entrance to the National Bonsai

& Penjing Museum on the

grounds of the National

Arboretum in Northeast

Washington.

RIGHT: Visitors admire some

of the ornamental trees at the

museum. The National Bonsai

Foundation offers classes in tai

chi, yoga and meditation among

the bonsai collection.

Results from Sept. 18

DISTRICT
Mid-Day Lucky Numbers: 9-4-2
Mid-Day DC-4: 7-3-0-3
Mid-Day DC-5: 4-0-3-3-8
Lucky Numbers (Tue.): 7-3-3
Lucky Numbers (Wed.): 6-4-7
DC-4 (Tue.): 5-6-6-0
DC-4 (Wed.): 9-5-1-8
DC-5 (Tue.): 7-3-2-5-7
DC-5 (Wed.): 1-8-9-7-8

MARYLAND
Mid-Day Pick 3: 2-9-0
Mid-Day Pick 4: 3-5-6-1
Night/Pick 3 (Tue.): 0-9-5
Pick 3 (Wed.): 5-7-8
Pick 4 (Tue.): 4-3-9-5
Pick 4 (Wed.): 2-6-8-5
Match 5 (Tue.): 1-4-6-25-26 21
Match 5 (Wed.): 3-16-20-30-31 19
5 Card Cash: 10C-QD-7S-2C-5C

VIRGINIA
Day/Pick-3: 3-6-8
Pick-4: 1-6-7-2
Cash-5: 6-12-14-15-23
Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): 7-5-8
Pick-3 (Wed.): 6-8-7
Pick-4 (Tue.): 0-5-4-4
Pick-4 (Wed.): 7-7-3-0
Cash-5 (Tue.): 7-8-14-16-28
Cash-5 (Wed.): 6-13-20-21-25
Bank a Million: 3-14-20-21-22-23 *28

MULTI-STATE GAMES
Mega Millions: 12-15-30-50-65 *1
Megaplier: 4x
Powerball: 14-19-39-47-51†15
Power Play: 3
Cash 4 Life:9-13-29-39-46 ¶ 3
Bonus Ball **Mega Ball
¶ Cash Ball †Powerball
For late drawings and other results, check
washingtonpost.com/local/lottery

LOTTERIES

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Free Tickets to Catfi sh & The Bottlemen

on September 29 at The Anthem

The British indie rockers recently released third album The Balance, an 11-track

record produced by Jacknife Lee (R.E.M., U2). “We might have to hang on a

couple of years for the next Catfish album, but that won’t be a problem when

the guys have so many songs that are perfect to play

on repeat.” (TheYoungFolks.com)

Free Tickets to Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues

on October 2 at City Winery

Walking the line between Beethoven and B.B. King and armed with a creative

genius, “the harmonica-playing mad scientist” (Doyle Armbrust) has pioneered an

original, genre-busting Chamber blues --- a fresh, innovative sound capturing the

sparkling qualities of classical music merged with the emotional melodic style of

blues, all within an intimate chamber setting.

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