In the shadow of greatness

(This post was written yesterday but couldn't be posted since Blogger was down)

I wish I had a better memory in order to record all the things I see, the noises I hear, the smells, the looks, the sensations, the funny people I watch, the bizarre things that happen on the streets, all these things I see just traveling to and fro on my way to work and back. Every day is quite the experience.

I promised myself that I would soak up every day here in our capital city, not knowing ultimately how long I’ll be here. I made a huge long list of all the things I want to see and do and eventually want to cross off each item one by one.

I started today: Washington Monument.

It was a gorgeous day and strolling through the Mall lightened my spirits and brought a calm into my life. It feels so good to be here. It feels like I made the right decision.

I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to get a ticket to go all the way up the monument and see the view (and I didn’t) but just sitting on the marble bench, surrounded by the fifty flags each representing a state, watching the tour groups of high school students all dressed in neon yellow shirts, and doing a crossword puzzle (everyone here does crosswords on the bus, standing in line, sitting on the metro-I wanted to be cool like them) every second was heavenly. I love my life.

There are still times when I’m in places like that and I look around at all that surrounds me and I think, “Gosh, I’m really here. This is surreal. I’m really here.” I see the Lincoln Memorial to one side, the Capital on the other side, the WWII memorial in the distance, the dome of the Museum of Natural History afar off. I pass the great Pentagon building every time I get on the metro. This is great.

I don’t think I’ll tire of seeing these things. Washington DC was inspiring to me when I came here as a 17 year old. It’s still inspiring to me today. I think of what this country was founded on. I think of all who have sacrificed to make it what it is, and those who continue to sacrifice. I think of the fathers of our country, those God-fearing determined men who conquered extreme inconvenience, summer heat, opposite opinions, separation from family, and a British Empire in order to write our Constitution. They had a vision for what this country would become.

So here I am at the threshold of great adventures. I’m proud to be an American. I’m proud to call this country my own.

(if there's one thing that drives me nuts it's when people can't take pictures. I asked two random people to take a picture of me with the Washington Monument in the background. The first woman made it so the monument was coming out of my head and the second woman cut off the top of the monument. So annoying. I guess you'll just have to imagine it.)