Repatriated

I had he good fortune to spend a few days in Washington DC with a very talented tour guide. Anne is a life long resident of The District and provided not only a guided tour but a wealth of little known background color at each stop. It was also interesting watching the observations of 47 8th graders. There were 130+ in our group but we traveled around on 3 buses. As with society, there were those that were in-tune and interested and those that were just along for the ride.
The big take-away for me was that our country is still an amazing experiment in democracy. At every turn there were masses paying homage to our monuments, memorials and government buildings.
I posted my pix at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30426292@N07/sets/72157615901310103/

• There were a few protestors at the White House exercising their right to bitch about something.
• There were Vets walking around Arlington National Cemetery visiting their fallen brothers.
• There were visitors from every nationality on the globe (it seemed) taking photos of the icons of our Republic.
• There were parents explaining heady and historic things to their kids in every Museum.
• There were even plenty of politicians to be seen, even though our senate had the day off (not sure why.)

I was proud to be an American as I stood in line after line to view each significant part of our history.
I was brought to the verge of tears watching the changing of the guard as the sun came up over the graves in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I was humbled by the great inventions that American's have given the globe. Science, medicine, transportation, philosophy.
I felt small at times by the sheer bigness of everything.

If you slept through history and American government in school do yourself a favor go visit DC. It's all there in a much more real, touchable way. It's real.
It's also free... well at least you have pre-paid for your tickets through your taxes.

Thanks Mr. Baker and the Pershing 8th grade class of 2009 for letting me tag along.