The National Mall, with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial to its left in the distance. The weather on Saturday was glorious, with cool (for us, anyway) temperatures and very little humidity, the first break we’ve had in a heat wave that’s extended over a week here.

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This year's Folklife Festival on the National Mall, sponsored annually by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., presented Catalonia and Armenia as the guests of honor. Usually a US state is also showcased, but this year, oddly enough, there was none, perhaps due to the tension between “red” and “blue” states dividing the country.

Lily field, posted earlier: