Leaving the Metro

I emerged from the metro tunnel at the Capitol South Station, and immediately the cold humid air confronted me and seemed to penetrate my skin. Large drops of icy sleet fell onto my head from a solid covering of gray-white clouds hovering low upon the District. The sound of ice crunched beneath my feet as I approached the United States Capitol Building, now mostly obscured by high barricade walls, scaffolding, and various forms of construction equipment. The barrier prevented pedestrian access to the Capitol from the east, so I continued walking past the Library of Congress toward the Supreme Court.