The Long Walk

This week has been a whirlwind. When I was talking with my mom on the phone, she told me, half-joking, I was going to run out of things to go to at the pace I was going.

Ummm... I think she might have been right, per usual.

The only places in town I can think of right now that I haven't been in yet that I have to go visit are the Library of Congress, Arlington Veterans' Cemetery, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Which means I've been busy this week!

The time feels like it's passed so fast. I don't even feel like I've actually been here two weeks already. It feels both longer and shorter. It's kind of weird.

But, I've had a really good week. I went to the Museum of American History two days in a row. I spent three and a half hours in a single exhibit entitled "The Price of Freedom" which basically an exhibit covering all of the major wars and conflicts that the US has been involved in since the part of the Seven-Years War that happened in this side of the Atlantic.

It was a really good exhibit, and I was honestly impressed. I got to see George Washington's actual uniform:

I also walked the length of the Mall from the Capitol Building to the Lincoln Memorial, on accident.

I started here

Walked in the WRONG direction

And ended up here:

Yeah, oops, because this is a LONG way from where I was supposed to go. I didn't mind the walk though, it was a nice day, and it was good exercise.

I also got distracted by the United States Botanical Gardens, which was holding an Orchid Symphony exhibit.

Then, I told myself to get to work again and 

I walked down to the World War II memorial.

And found the pillar that was dedicated to Arizona.

 

Then, I went to the Korean War memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial.

The Vietnam War Memorial really is moving. I'm not even related to anyone who fought in the War as far as I know, and I really felt something. I felt really moved being there. There are so many names on that wall. There are so many young men that never came home. There are sets of brothers and a boy who was less than sixteen years old. There are letters to men, and even a few women, written by students, and relatives. Flags and letters are left there, and it's really amazing that kids are taught to honor and thank these men and women.

It's great, and I really love that there is some kind of effort to help kids remember important moments in our nation's history.

I even went back on the day we had a tornado warning (the warning was earlier in the morning) because the wall goes blank when it's wet. The properties of the way the black marble was carved mean that the names disappear from the rock when it gets entirely wet. I was quite disappointed that it didn't rain (but I was really glad that I didn't have to deal with getting wet).

I also went to the National Gallery again to see the exhibit of modern German art. Much of it is really beautiful, and some of it even applies directly to my project like I guessed it might (because of the time period).

I saw the Dying Gaul for the last time, since he's being removed from the museum as of sometime this week I believe.

I went to a French Cafe for pie day, and was in Annapolis for the Ides of March.

I saw this on a friend's non-BASIS blog, and it's just (snickers) terrible... (my apologies if you read this and really don't like it, I understand)

So on the Ides of March, Holly, Jason, Jane, her friend Ava (sorry if I used the wrong spelling) and I had crabs at a local Annapolis restaurant, which was fun, and a workout in itself. The thing about crabs is that you feel really accomplished when you actually get meat from it, so it was actually really fun.

Today though, it snowed. The tree-branches are dusted, as are the grass, bushes, (and anything that's not the ground) as if they were covered in powdered sugar. There was an owl sitting up in the tree in the backyard, watching the snow just like we were. Everything is just really pretty, but I think I already have conflicting feelings about the snow. It's cold.

I'm looking forward to another great week. I'll probably be doing a lot more reading though, since I have things I need to finish for that.

Oh, by the way, today's song is The Title Theme from Road to Perdition, which I've never actually seen, but the music is good.

Ciao!