Forced return to community

My apartment building is home to between 500 and 600 people, most of whom are staying in for the duration. An unusually large audience for the Monday night movie led to a group of people who hadn't seen each other for ages deciding to have a bridge game. Those who know they are members of AA arranged a meeting in the building for tonight. It's a time for casual invites, "Join me for supper," as we empty pantry and refrigerators. Normally, DC offers so many options that neighbors don't leave time to be neighborly. Now we're a snowbound small town in the big city.

On the Seam

At a book event for The Hawk and the Dove, the dual biography of George Kennan and Paul Nitze, held Feb. 1 at the School for Advanced International Studies founded by Nitze, Eliot Cohen, Director of Strategic Studies at the school, commented that both Kennan and Nitze tried to live "on the seam between thought and action." Neither succeeded completely. This living on the seam strikes me as the definition of Washington policy wonks who mainly think but would like to affect the world. Perhaps the ideal is to experience the two sequentially - a time for thought and a time for action. But does the competitive environment of professional life now allow the time for thought?