The mundane activity in this photo reminds me of a White House briefing that I covered in the mid-1980s, ahead of a global economic summit in Japan. Lots of foreign reporters were in the press room that day. Press Secretary Larry Speakes, as a practical joke, trotted out the late comic actor Jim Varney and introduced him to the unsuspecting throng as an economics expert who had just met with President Reagan and would take questions. Asked what he and the President had done in the meeting, Varney said (and I paraphrase) "We spent the morning puttin' up storm windows on the White House." There was great consternation until it dawned on everyone that they'd been had.

of the White House always strike me as serene, given the incredible history of the place in war and peace. These days, you rarely see anyone standing about casually in conversation. They'd probably cause Secret Service consternation!