The following security measures are now in place: Effective immediately, I have suspended any and all walks in the vicinity of national monuments.

In the light of recent attacks on people who even look “middle eastern,” I am curbing my walks during my lunch break. Normally, I’d walk on the mall, near the vicinity of the Vietnam Veterans’s memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. Now, I’m not so sure.

For one of the first times in this city, I was afraid–not so much afraid, but I had healthy concern over the thought of walking by myself, in emotionally charged times.