I have been to Washington D.C. a couple of times, with my first trip being as a teenager. Our capitol is an incredible city, and every year kids from across the nation visit. Some of those children are probably changed by the experience......developing a love for America. However, I would bet most are like, ".....great its 95 degrees and they want us to walk around another statue...."
Have you heard life is about who you know? That isn't true..... Well, it is a little true, who you know can be of some help. But the real secret to life is this: (Quoting myself - Life isn't about who you know, life is about WHAT you know about WHO you know!!! That is what will get you where you want to be.....)
In the year 2000 I married the world's most wonderful woman, (and I'm not just saying that because she is sitting at the table cleaning her Glock). It was a great year, we celebrated New Year's Eve at an incredible party with Barbara Eden, and explored Jamacia in June after our wedding. Honestly, could life get any better.....?
Spoiler, the answer is yes. Back in 2000 the only way to visit the White House was with an invitation from Congress or the White House, and I flexed my BS muscle securing us an invitation to the White House. This is not a brag, I am not saying I had connections inside the Clinton White House....well...hmm. Maybe I am saying people in Washington thought I knew someone......(if you have been reading my stuff for a while this is probably coming into focus)
The White House is an amazing place..... One tour isn't enough, it would take a minimum of four times through to see a fourth of what you would want to remember. But, it was an honor to be there.
We spent most of a week seeing Washington D.C. which is not nearly enough time. I wish I could take my own children and spend quality time in the city. But, I also know they are not of the age that would enable them to fully embrace the experience.
My Dad (this is why I told the story about What you KNOW about WHO you know) was stationed at the White House during World War II. Dad's job in the army was to drive a tank..... not a lot of tank driving jobs at the White House, but a Colonel found one for my dad. I have some of dad's photographs from the war, like a GREAT black and white picture of the White House pre-fences.
Growing up dad told me about climbing the steps of the Washington Monument, I wanted to make that same journey, but in the steps were closed in the 1970's. My first visit to the top was rushed....I only stayed up top a short time, basically looking out the windows and saying, "....great, it's high up here...." I was too young to be impressed. By the year 2000 I had matured enough to cherish the view, imagining my dad looking out those same windows. His nation at war, while he guarded the leaders. I took in the views of the city like a lost man in the dessert gulps water when he is rescued. What an incredible city.....
The amount of things to see and experience in Washington D.C. is only surpassed by the number of steps required to do so. Life is funny, when you are young and have all the energy in the world to experience the universe, most of us are to stupid to take advantage..... Youth is truly wasted on the young.
One of the things I remember from my first trip to Washington was the first time I encountered a homeless person. A white man, probably 5'11" it was hard to guess his weight, he did not appear heavy. But, it seemed as if he was wearing everything he owned, thus he had bulk. It was July, so hot heat was creating a mirage of waves in the distance and this man had on a tattered trench coat. What he wasn't wearing he dragged beside him in an old army duffle bag. I had seen duffle bags used before, every baseball coach around packed their gear to games and practice in one..... I had just never seen one be a house......
I smelled the homeless man before I ever saw him, an over powering odor filling the air. As he walked the crowd would part like the Red Sea, it was as if Moses out stretch his hand and staff over the people.
I don't know if the people fled the smell or the sight, maybe they feared being touched by this long hair, dirt stained man with yellow/brownish stained teeth....or at least the ones that remained. White was not a color you could associate with him. Oh, don't get me wrong at one time his skin was probably white, but by the time he crossed my path not even the white's of his eyes shown through.
Over the years I have often wondered what became of that homeless man? Also wondering how does a person find themselves sleeping on a park bench, while living in a nation of plenty. Imagine closing your eyes at night to rest just mere yards away from the leader of the free world......
So maybe I was young and did not appreciate every painting and statue we marched to see.....but maybe that trip also help me have a little empathy for those in society that have slipped, stumbled or fallen off the ladder to success.......
