Festive festoonings

The building that I work in is remote from yet technically considered part of the Pentagon, much like Alaska and Hawaii are technically parts of the United States. There is a dedicated staff of security officers checking to make sure that no one gets more than a foot or so inside any of the doors without having proper identification and permission to enter. Those multiple doors include sidewalk-facing entrances on opposite sides of the building, and a side entrance that is accessible through a shops pavilion shared with a couple of other buildings connected at street level.

Of course, both the DoD building where I clock in every day and the retail space are fully decorated for Christmas by now, but it’s amusing (to me) how visibly the dividing line between the two areas manifests itself. Inside my office building, the evergreen wreaths and garlands are decked with red and white poinsettias and blue and gold ornaments, leaving absolutely no doubt as to the patriotic nature of our work. Just outside the pavilion door is a huge Christmas tree staged with presents underneath it, and the wrapping paper as well as the ornaments are all purple, green and gold (which obviously makes me think of Mardi Gras, a weird but not entirely bad thing).

The icing on the cake today is … literally icing, actually. When I went to heat up my lunch in the kitchenette’s microwave today I discovered the remains of a large (like, warehouse-store large) sheet cake: devil’s food cake, chocolate crème, chocolate buttercream frosting, and a giant American flag across the top. No explanation for its appearance was given, just a small post-it note exhorting everyone to “Pls eat!” (And under that, not kidding, the assurance “Good for breakfast!” indicating someone had dumped it on one of the eat-in tables first thing in the morning.)

So that’s life in the Big Gray-But-With-Lots-Of-Colorful-Seasonal-Accessories today. I am trying to get ahead on various work assignments today so that I will have plenty of time to babble about non-work topics later this week. So far so good, assuming I get back to it right now.