DC Redux

After sifting through emails and trying to get my head back in the game at work, I have finally downloaded our pictures from our trip to DC.

A couple of things we learned on our trip:
1. Traffic is not our style and there is WAY too much of it on the eastern seaboard.
2. There is so much to see in Washington, we easily could have spent ten days there. The hardest part of the trip was picking out what to see.
3. We love Vermont. The moment was drove back into the Green Mountain State, we experienced an easing of our minds. Perhaps it is the lushness that surrounds us, or the barns, cows, and rolling hills that frame the roads. Perhaps I am romanticizing it all. But whatever it is, we realized how fortunate we are to live here.

But onto the show.

Like any good librarian, we checked out the Library of Congress.

I even made Jon join me on a tour of the Library, which was sadly disappointing. I think I imagined being led through the library by a librarian who could share not only the architecture but also the vastness and importance of the library itself. They only covered the architecture. But the architecture was pretty amazing.

Speaking of amazing architecture though, the highlight to our trip was a personal tour of the National Museum of the American Indian with Jon's godfather, Michael Dobbs, who was one of the lead architects on the project.


Michael shared with us the efforts they had made to create an authentic place of honor for the American Indian both from the cupola that resembles the inside of a teepee to the fluidity of the building itself to honor the power of the elements.

Pretty incredible stuff.

After that, my favorite part was the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial. They have given TR an island, away from the hullabaloo that is the city. You cross this small walking bridge to enter a forest and then come upon Teddy in the woods:

I loved the marble slabs that surround the Memorial with quotes about Manhood, State, Youth, and Nature.

My favorite is the quote on Youth:
I want to see you game, boys, I want to see you brave and manly, and I also want to see you gentle and tender. Be practical as well are generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground. Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life. Alike for the nation and the individual, the one indispensable requisite is character.

I like that: eyes on the stars, feet on the ground. Courage, hard work, self-mastery, intelligent effort. Character. Words to live by, I think.