The Lincoln Memorial

I am teh busy today… but I had to share these photos. I love the Lincoln Memorial. It has always held a certain magic for me, and I remember getting chills as I climbed the steps and his face emerged from the shadows when I visited last — in sixth grade! It was so great to see my own children’s expressions as they experienced the same thing during this trip.

Lincoln was an almost mythological character to me as a child. I grew up reading about him, just like Laura Ingalls Wilder and Gandhi. He was one of my earliest heroes, and I still love reading about him today. I am glad that my children are interested in history and in the same heroes that I loved reading about as a child. It’s so neat to relive my childhood a little through my own kids. I get to re-experience childhood, but with the benefit of everything I’ve learned since then.

Monuments

I think that the monuments in Washington D.C. are so embedded in our consciousness that we forget how meaningul and beautiful they are. I have to admit, my art-seeking goal in D.C. was more along the lines of the art museums and less about the monuments, but after revisiting those “must-see” sites with my kids, I realized that they are so much more impressive than most of us probably ever realize.

I think that the most touching monument is the Vietnam Memorial. I’m a big fan of Maya Lin’s newer work, anyway, so I was able to view “the Wall” in the context of her other works. It’s such an impressive piece, and I really don’t think there is any way to experience it but to actually be there. You can’t capture the experience in a photograph, or even in a miniature traveling exhibit, like the one that has been to WV in the not-too-distant past.

I’ll admit, I cried like a little girl just looking at it — especially in light of the current endless war with its enormous human cost. It hits too close to home. I never knew my Grandfather, who died in the Korean War when my Dad was only 3 years old. He was a kid, too — only 25 years old, himself. My Dad has also served in just about every military activation since the Vietnam War, including Desert Storm and the current war. My cousins have also served, and I’m getting ready to see my Brother-in-Law off to Afghanistan this weekend.

It’s funny how words are used for the soldiers who fall to somehow soften the blow. Casualty. Casualty? What the hell does that mean? These lives were just lost casually? Like “oops, we lost a few…?” That’s bullshit. Each soldier is someone’s Dad … or brother. Or Mother. Or sister… each “casualty” is someone’s life story cut short. Whether you support the current war or not, each life lost is a tragedy and there’s no sugarcoating it. Seeing so many tragedies carved in inch-tall letters, stacked to the top of the wall and for 500-something feet is enough to move anybody to tears. Anybody with a heart, anyway…

And isn’t that what great art is all about? Not necessarily making people cry… but making someone feel something unexpected. Great art should cause a reaction, in your mind or in your heart, and give you something to carry with you afterward. Who would have thought that a granite-lined gash in the ground could accomplish that? But it does.

Quiz Thing

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7.3
Mind:	6.9
Body:	6.4
Spirit:	8.8
Friends/Family:	5.7
Love:	3.6
Finance:	8.2
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Quizzes are fun. This one asked a lot of interesting questions that really made me think about the things I have in my life. I’m a pretty lucky chick. I think I should have gotten more points in the friends/family area because I have really satisfying relationships with my friends and family. I think the downside for that category was that my Grandmother is very ill and I have some friends who are also not doing so well, and their problems weigh very heavily on my mind most of the time right now.

And yeah… I totally need to get more exercise.

Oprahma

I have entirely too much fun with Photoshop.

Trip to D.C. Part I

I love roadtrips. I really, really love to travel. I start packing weeks before the trip and count down the days — that’s how excited I get about going places. This trip was no exception. I knew it was going to be a blast and couldn’t wait to show my kids all the cool things in Washington D.C. I am so lucky my boss gave me the time off to go. This is a trip the kids and I will remember for the rest of our lives. It was that much fun!

Because we had to pick up people from different churches in the southern WV area, we took the long way to D.C. and didn’t get there until late in the evening. Our driver gave us a driving tour of some of the more famous sites in the downtown area, and then dropped us off at our hotel — the Savoy Suites of Georgetown. I didn’t have anything at all to do with planning the trip, so I really didn’t know what we had in store for accomodations, but I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. It’s located near the cathedral (you could see it really well from our rooms) and we had a nice room with a kitchenette. There are plenty of places to eat near the hotel, and a Whole Foods just a block away (handy — because I had to run there to buy cold medicine for Isaac.) It’s a safe neighborhood, too — lots of local residents jogging and out walking around. I was impressed with the service, too. I want to plan another trip to DC to stay longer and show the kids around, and I will definitely stay there again.

Dinner was not so great. We stopped at some place called the Old Country Buffet, which is a lot like Golden Corral and other all-you-can-eat buffets. I mean, it wasn’t bad… I’m just not a big fan of quantity-over-quality, and there weren’t many low-fat, low-carb options on the buffet, other than the salad bar. Even the veggie dishes were dripping with cheese, gravy, or fried. The kids liked it, though, and we were all hungry and tired of riding in the bus all day, so it was OK. Besides, the bus driver seemed to really, really want to take us there, so nobody complained too much. Little did we know what we had in store for the next evening…

I fell asleep with the curtains open, staring at the cathedral. It’s such a gorgeous sight! It looks totally out of place in downtown Washington D.C. You would really expect to see it in Europe, or even New York, but not D.C. That night, I had dreams of walking around the cathedral grounds, looking up at it from the ground, with the moonlight falling down on the frosty carved stone, making the cathedral look like it was made of crystal.

Stained Light

Too tired to write much, but a picture’s worth a thousand words, right? So this post should be a verbal bargain. It’s almost like reading Moby Dick, except with more colors and less descriptions of whale anatomy.

The trip was a blast. There was history and trivia, beautiful and moving art… a hostage crisis (Nobody was harmed in the process, unless you count being forced to eat at a large, artery-clogging all-you-can-eat buffet two nights in a row torture) and a coup d’charter bus. All-in-all, this trip had it all, except for maybe better food… but I’m not complaining (although my digestive system is PISSED!) I had a blast and so did the kids, and I have some great photos to show for it. I think I’m going to have to plan a DIY trip for the entire family this summer — no charter busses or greasy dinners allowed.

Be patient… more later.

Playing Hooky With Abe

Tomorrow, I’m skipping school to go hang out with Abe Lincoln.

Actually, it’s for a really good reason. I’m taking my kids to Washington D.C. to see the monuments and museums. Sunday is West Virginia Day at the National Cathedral, and they’re going to be participating in that as acolytes (altar boys) so we decided to make a long weekend of it and see the sights.

Some people would take issue with me pulling my kids out of school for a little mini-vacation, but since nobody does the 5th-6th grade field trip to D.C. anymore like they used to, I thought it would be ridiculous to take them to DC without spending at least one entire day touring D.C.

I’m pretty excited about it, actually. Giddy, even. A day off, plus extra time with my kids, plus history plus art? It just doesn’t get any better than that. Well, actually, it could have been better — I’m missing the Edward Hopper exhibit by a week. Of course, I don’t know how much time we’ll have for art exhibits, especially since the kids aren’t quite old enough to really get Hopper, so I probably wouldn’t have gotten to see it, anyway. So it’s really better that it not be an option, because I would have to see it.

Mike is staying home with the baby, so it’s just the big kids, my Mom, and myself. As much as I will miss the rest of my family for the weekend, it’s going to be neat having the “big kids” to myself.

I’m finishing up my sub plans and then I’m outta here. See you all back here on Tuesday! I will probably post a photo or two.

This post is bananas!

… and so is my morning.

I was on my way to school this morning on Rt. 119 halfway between Spencer and Walton when I saw a guy pulled off on the right side of the road, in a really narrow place. One of my worst fears is of hitting someone who’s having car trouble (especially after reading Evil Twin’s Wife’s story yesterday) so my attention was on that side of the road, especially since there was really no room for him to park on the shoulder there.

In the oncoming lane, a guy was traveling at a pretty good click when all of a sudden, he decided to swerve into my lane to pull up behind the broken-down vehicle. He was going so fast that I really didn’t expect him to suddenly decide to drive the wrong way in my lane, and I was looking around the stopped vehicle, so we came thisclose to smacking head-on.

It would have been ugly. My 1998 Maxima -vs- his old-school Ford Bronco (made back when cars were heavy and everything was made of metal.)

I swear, the guy swerved so close, I think I felt our bumpers touch. I couldn’t find a mark on my car, so maybe it was my imagination, but it had to have been really close. I saw the accident start to occur and had come to the conclusion in my mind that I was going to die in a head-on collision today, listening to Grunt the Pig on the Bob & Sheri morning show, and having an especially good-hair-day. (At least I would have died laughing and happy.) I didn’t even have time to come up with a really good string of expletives, or to slam on my brakes. That’s good, about the brakes, because I probably would have hit the other guy or the rock wall to my left to avoid a head-on with Mr. SUV. I really don’t know how I avoided hitting anything, other than to assume divine intervention or some other unexplainable suspension of the laws of physics.

I swear, idiots should have to have a large insignia on their vehicles, sort of like slow-moving vehicles have those big, orange triangles. “Warning: This person has poor decision-making skills. Keep clear.”

Sheesh. And now to move on to the slightly less-nervewracking task of teaching teenagers.

Embrace

Midterms

I hate doing my midterm grades. I would rather figure out taxes. Seriously.