old man crushes

just got back from d.c.

had a heck of a time.

- saw the lincoln memorial
- saw the washington monument
- visited arlington cemetery where i saw the thousands of graves, the tomb of the unknown soldier, and JFK's "eternal flame"
- went to two smithsonians...air and space, and natural history
- saw the capitol building
- looked through the library of congress (which has the original gutenberg Bible!)
- saw the white house and the eisenhower building
- saw the vietnam, korean, and world war two memorials

that's really not much. this trip was so relaxed. i was so excited to see my friends that i didn't even make plans, or put much thought into what we were going to do. i didn't see the constitution or the bill of rights. i didn't see the jefferson memorial. i could have ridden to the top of the washington monument. i could have gone to the holocaust museum, or the american history smithsonian (or a few other smithsonians...)

but i didn't do those things. i just enjoyed being with my best friend.



a conversation to illustrate how we are "joined at the brain":

me: this is just like the moon!
ashley: yeah...totally unbelievable.
me: yeah.

and her husband is a close friend also. i forgot to bring a pen and paper with me so i could write down his outrageous thoughts. but he made us the best breakfast of my life...pancakes, eggs, sausage, strawberries, kiwi, and home fries. if i could eat it again right now, i wouldn't hold back. there'd be no leftovers.

but i also came to a strange realization about myself.

old/dead men. i'm kind of obsessed.

when i was in 3rd or 4th grade, i went through an abraham lincoln phase. i memorized the gettysburg address for no reason other than i loved abraham lincoln. i read books about him, and thought about him a lot during that phase. i thought he was so great. he's kind of a big deal, you know. i recognized that at an early age. so it was really special to see his memorial, and to see the gettysburg address inscribed on the side of it.

but there's another old man that intrigues me. his name is richard winters.

he is a world war two veteran. a hero, if you will. he's one of the men in the "band of brothers" book and movie series. the best man in the series. he was an officer who led a troop of men through D-Day and what came after.

i read the book a couple years ago, but jonathan (ashley's husband) had "beyond band of brothers: dick winters' war memoirs" on his bookshelf, and i started reading it. he let me bring it back with me so i could finish it. i'm obsessed all over again. i am so impressed by the things he did. i can't recount them. you need to read these books.

if only it was 1945...

some pictures: