Like a schoolgirl asked to write about her summer vacation I feel compelled to document the highlights of my trip to Washington D.C. (It goes without saying that my nephew's wedding ceremony and reception were the absolute pinnacle of wonderfulness). - scroll over for picture captions - We rode on a bus. I got a chance to go with the wedding party to take photos at some of the classic sights in DC including the war memorial where John proposed to Julia, the Supreme Court building, the tidal basin where there were still a few cherry blossoms, and several other scenic spots. John and Julia did a "first look" of each other in their wedding finery at the war memorial. It was soooooo romantic. It got less romantic as the temperature rose, but while the happy couple and their attendants were out getting roasted on the marble steps of the Supreme Court building, we were in an air conditioned bus. We saw the Capitol. My sister and I got a personal tour of the Capitol from a lovely young intern of my State Representative. I remember being that young once. All the opportunities of the future are spreading out before you. She had just graduated from college and this was her first job. My first job was not this fun. I cried every night for the first month. Despite what my teaching credential said I was not prepared to be the only adult in a roomful of junior high students. She wants to be a teacher too. That's good. After the initial shock, I enjoyed it. I also enjoy being retired. And even if the whole world isn't spreading out before me like this young intern, many new opportunities are in my future. We visited the American History Museum. My sister and I both had this as a high priority of things to do in Washington. We saw an exhibit featuring an entire house that began its life in the 1700's. It was donated to the museum, carefully demolished and rebuilt inside the museum. I wish my Dad had been able to see it. He would have enjoyed examining all the joinery and hand hewn beams. We all would have gotten a kick out of the outhouse, or as he called it, the “privy.” We also saw the real star spangled banner. While my sister and I were resting our sore feet on a bench in the darkened room where it was displayed, a group of about six young girls came in and stood in front of the glass window facing the flag. They sang the entire national anthem in the sweetest, most solemn voices. I applauded when they were done and they thanked me. Next we headed to the First Ladies dress exhibit. My favorite was Mamie Eisenhower's red 1950's ball gown with little cap sleeves. A group of Mennonite women came into the exhibit while we were there. They were dressed in identical traditional long dresses and took pictures of the gowns. You could tell they were really enjoying checking out the fashions even though they would never in a million years wear them. We didn't have enough time to see much of the Presidents exhibit, but we did get a look at the toys of presidential children, including Amy Carter's dollhouse with miniature photos of her and her parents. We were in history heaven. I took another bus ride. I booked a bus tour of the monuments. My sister wasn't able to come so I went by myself. It was supposed to be a three hour tour but the guide mixed the three hour tour people with the six hour tour people and all of a sudden I was on a six hour tour of all the classic Washington sights. I've seen many of them once before on a previous trip, but this was better. The guide seemed to genuinely enjoy sharing what he knew even though he's probably seen these things a billion times. I thought I wasn't going to feel that sense of sadness and despair that I had the first time I saw the Vietnam memorial, but I couldn’t help myself. It's an overwhelming monument. It begins innocuously low to the ground but, as you walk along the wall, it starts to tower over you and the names of the dead grow with every step. I flew home. As I was going through security at the airport I heard people applauding and cheering. It turned out that a group of WWII veterans had arrived on a special flight sponsored by a group called “Honor Flight.” They arrange for veterans to visit Washington D.C. to see the World War II memorial and other monuments free of charge. As each veteran came through the gate they were greeted by a host of volunteers. In the corridor by the gate where they deplaned was a men's chorus singing military songs. Every veteran had a volunteer helper guiding them through the corridor, most of them were in wheelchairs. There were tears and salutes and everyone was taking cellphone pictures of them. I thought of my Dad and all the stories he told about his experiences in the war. I wished he could have done this too. The flight back home was quite bumpy. I don’t like bumpy. I immersed myself in writing some blog entries and low and behold the time literally flew by and before I knew it I was in Phoenix for my connecting flight home. Writing this blog has advantages I hadn’t even thought of. It kept my mind off the turbulence and made me so relaxed that I even fell asleep for a while. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself by snoring.
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Leslie Masona woman in search of her post-retirement future Guess what! By subscribing, you get notices about the latest Little Old Lady with Cats posts sent to your mailbox!
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(from an entry posted on 5/1/2015) “I definitely fit some of the characteristics of a little old lady with cats: Retired - check, Single - check, Like to knit - check, Have cats - check. . .I do not want to get stuck in my Little Old Lady persona, however. In fact, this blog is a risk taking experiment in exploring and redefining what I want my retired life to look like.” Categories
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