Turning West

After a few days I'm back in a spot with internet access! Since last post we left Philly and spent several days in the Washington, D.C. area.

We walked the Mall area around the Washington Memorial, taking in a view of the White House on the President's birthday, strolling in and through the magnificent World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean War Memorial. The memory of these conflicts weighs heavy. I'm glad to know the sacrifices made in these wars will not be forgotten. Yet at the same time I am troubled by how much of our national history is marked by war. The presence of tight, grim security around the Capital area is stern and somewhat oppressive. I am surprised and saddened by how little joy there is here -- vigilant alertness, to be sure, but a decided lack of warmth and hospitality compared to other places we have visited. I suppose this is to be expected, D.C. being the place where our leaders reside. Still taking in the atmosphere here is sobering.

After a day outside in the muggy heat, I looked forward to getting in a few famous air-conditioned museums the next. I felt ready for aspiration and inspiration as a counterpoint to caution and vigilance. Some relief there -- yet the Holocaust Museum is poignant, necessary, and disturbing. Air and Space Museum, hung like a child's bedroom with real airplanes and spaceships, is also infused with the history of our wars. Next time around I'll start with the art museums!

In the swirl of D.C. we hooked up with Cre, Shirley, and Jadyn Murphy. What a blessing to be welcomed into their apartment home, fed, watered, tickled, smiled at and generally loved up. As with other settings, I find it's being with people in an open way that brings a feeling of what matters -- so much of that inhibited in the stone and stone-faced security that surrounds our nation's leaders. I hope and pray they have people in their lives who smile at them! If we could have gotten close enough we would have, perhaps, offered that.

We are turned back West now, with a little over a week to go. We are out of the bustle of the East. As we motored out of Maryland into West Virginia and to Ohio, John Denver of all people crept into out heads . . . "Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains. Shenandoah River . . . Take me home, country roads!"