Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Thank a Veteran!

Today was a good day. Veteran's Day. A day off (mostly).

I love to reflect on days like today the freedoms of this nation and where they come from. I decided a good way to enhance my reflection would be to immerse myself in some sort of history (which is always so easy, considering where I live). I chose to head out to the Newseum. And... I am so happy I did!! It was amazing.

*PAUSE* Can you name the 5 freedoms in the first amendment?? See answer at the bottom.

First of all, I took the metro to the Navy Memorial - I arrived just as the memorial ceremony began. I was moved to tears as the soldiers presented the flags, as the National Anthem played, and then as a General placed a wreath at the "Lone Sailor" Statue as "Taps" played in the background. What a solemn experience it was to hear the Chaplain give the invocation and the benediction and close it in the name of the God of our Fathers, the God of this great nation and the God of all men. This truly is "One Nation Under God."

I love the spirit that dwells in this city. This city memorializes everything good that has come out of this world -- we definitely also represent and witness the wicked, but there are endless memorials to bear witness of those who have given all for this nation and for noble, worthy causes.

From this very touching memorial ceremony, I walked a couple of blocks to the Newseum - Washington, DC's newest museum. I had heard wonderful things about it and read countless commentaries, but hadn't yet witnessed it myself. Well, today... I witnessed. I laughed, I cried, I witnessed. It was astounding. Anyone who knows me well knows the following three things about me: 1. I love history 2. I love people watching and 3. I love to be alone. I partook in the goodness of all three of these today, but I want to focus on the history, although, there will be one super funny story about people watching...

This whole museum was filled with six glorious floors of displays on all things history. There is no way I could get to it all in one day, so I splurged and bought the annual pass; which, by the way, is fully tax-deductible. :) **So I open the invitation for any and all to join me at some point in time** I made it through about four of the floors - and not as well as I would like. I fully intend to go back again and again. I was moved by the Berlin Wall displays (they actually have a guard tower and a portion of the wall), SERIOUSLY over-whelmed by the 9/11 film and exhibit and thrilled by all the old headlines and films and sound bytes. It was glorious. I strongly encourage a visit! This "short" commentary cannot do it justice. NOW I can hardly wait for the American History (my favorite of all museums) to have it's grand re-opening in just a few short days!! My life will truly be bliss once again. :)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: (Sadly, this comes from William Jefferson Clinton, but... he can't help that he is a wickedly smart, but stupid, stupid man.)
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America."

I really liked it and I fully agree.

God Bless America, my friends. I love this land - the land of the free, the home of the brave.

Ok... so the funny story: One of the exhibits was really neat. It was in a darker room with old newspapers you could pull out and look at and on the sides were walls filled with pieces of history. I was looking really closely at one of the displays and thought I could touch one of them... only to slam my hand (really hard, I might add) into a giant wall of glass that was in front of it. These two guys said "Wow, are you ok." I said "Uh, yeah, I was just trying to get a little closer. I guess I didn't realize there was actually glass here... It's so clean." To which one of the guys replies "Don't worry, birds do it all the time." Wait, what?? I just had to stand there and laugh at myself. Ok, so funny. Right?! But that's not the end. As I was laughing, I look over and some girl slams her HEAD into the glass really hard!! I about died -- I'm surprised she didn't get a concussion or something. I'm not kidding, it was a hard slam into the glass!! The guy she was with, I could tell, wanted to laugh too, but he just kept saying "Holy cow! Are okay?? That was really hard! Are you going to be alright??"
I hope you got a kick out of that - I sure did. I hope it's not one of those "you had to be there moments." Because, I'm not kidding, it was hilarious-- I'm laughing again just writing this!!

**First amendment freedoms - right to: speech, religion, press, assembly and petition.**
(Fresh on my brain from the Newseum)

2 comments:

Brianne said...

Sounds like a great way to celebrate veteran's day! Thanks for taking me on the journey with you :) Have a happy day!!

Eve said...

I can't wait to head up to the Newseum now! I love what you said about the spirit of city--memorializing all the good things about this country--I love that! It's so true!