The new Global Food on North Beauregard Street (where the Giant was) is – so far – clean and packed with an impressive international array of produce, spices, beauty and health products, and snacks. Big Russian Soul shout-out for the outstanding selection of Euro-food and Middle Eastern options in addition to the usual mix of Asian and Hispanic goodies. It’s good to have a local alternative to Russian Gourmet for some of the basics.

Some jackass stole my daughter’s bike on Saturday. She was playing with a friend near Holmes Run Stream and had left her bike up closer to the playground. Remarkably, the police came to our house to take a report within 30 minutes of me calling to report the theft, and they actually recovered the bike within three hours. It was pretty impressive. Is this typical for Alexandria City Police? Gosh, I hope so. The bike needed some minor repairs, but it was back in working order by evening. We bought her a bike lock.

It’s lovely that swimming pool season is here, but the only outdoor city pool within walking distance of my home is the one at Ewald Park. It doesn’t look like that pool has been open since 2010 or so. Harrumph. Good thing my kids all still have friends who live in apartment complexes with pools or belong to private pools.