Week in the Swamp

By Chris

Tomorrow's my last day in DC after being here since Monday. DC is basically built on a pumped out swamp. Well, you can take the swamp out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the swamp. The work of today involved miles of walking and METRO riding for many hours. And it was MUGGGYYYY. Yuck. To top it off, a thunderstorm got me wet on top of the sweat at the end of the day. But, I still love to get around this city. You can work and sight-see real easily when your business of the day takes you to the Capitol and the Naitonal Mall. Having just read a fascinating book about Abraham Lincoln's assassination, I walked by the Ford Theatre and the house across the street where he died (and crossed the street where his blood dripped as they carried him across the street so the President wouldn't die on a theatre floor . . . it wasn't paved then, but still . . .). While I had been in the various office buildings around the Capitol where members of congress have offices, I had not been in the actual capitol for a while. Some special arrangements today meant I got a quick lunch-time tour in the Capitol. I could stand for hours in the Rotunda and gaze at the intricate paintings and sculpting on the walls and ceilings. I saw a sculpture I had never noticed before that had the heads of four women who blazed trails in the women's suffrage movement, with one un-sculped hunk. A helpful congressional intern from Ga. explained that slot was being held for the first woman president. In another nifty find for someone reading about Lincoln lately, I was able to find the exact spot in the Capitol where Abe sat when he served in Congress (there are gold tiles on the floor in the Capitol at the exact spaces where any Presidents, who served in congress, sat). In between . . . I promise we accomplished some work! Because we had Washington newbie in our group, we walked her by the Supreme Court and White House too. Since we live pretty close to DC, Teresa has seen it all and cringes at the thought of going to Washington with the kids to check all this stuff out very often. She thinks it's boring. I'll have to drag them up here soon though.

I'll be home tomorrow afternoon (though they're calling for storms . . . so we'll see what happens!). It's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder . . . I miss everyone at home. See ya soon.