Washington D.C.

I never meant to wither. I wanted to be tall. Like a fool left a river and watched my branches fall. Old and thirsty I longed for the flood to come back around to the cactus in the valley that's about to crumble down. Wipe the mark of sadness from my face. Show me that your love will never change. If my yesterday is a disgrace.. show me that you still recall my name. -Lights, Cactus in the Valley



Washington D.C. was the mark on my trail this past weekend and we got to see more than I expected or even hoped for. Though, traveling through the city, I had constant reminders of the yester-years from when I first visited our nation's capital (for all yee Americans out there ;D) back when I was a little wee one. I remember vividly the Star Wars exhibition, Smithsonian, the White House, K street, and last but MOST certainly not least - National Geographic headquarters. I still remember to this day my first experience with National Geographic. I discovered the Theory of Evolution at their museum's featured exhibition at the time. When I learned that many scientists believed we evolved from apes, I was completely shook to the core as I was raised to be Christian. When I went home after that trip with my family, I remember getting a lecture from my 2nd grade teacher after my extensive weekend journal entry proclaiming my discovery. Her being a devote Christian as well, she told me I was wrong and wouldn't let me go to recess because I argued with her saying that Jesus evolved from a monkey too because he was human. Thinking back on that now... I'm not sure how she got away with that? Teachers now would be fired over such a thing today. Nevertheless, every time I see a Geico commercial doing their cavemen spoofs, I always think back to that moment in time lol.

Anyway - This time was a little different. We hit all the hot spots so our eyes could feast on all the glorious white, oddly roman-esk architecture that makes it stand out from the rest of the world. Looking up studying the architecture there were times that I had to remind myself that I wasn't in ancient day Rome. Until I looked down at ground level again... the segway tours and plethora of cars, lights, and ginormous construction trucks may or may not have made that reminder pretty easy.

Nevertheless, we explored all the glories of D.C. - National Archives (holds the Nations official Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc..), the White House, Smithsonian Institute (Air & Space museum FTW), Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Arlington Cemetery, National Geographic Headquarters (my heaven), and became extremely ecstatic that their ceiling in NG Headquarters was covered in stars... but done in such a way that the fiber optics and perfectly chosen paint and materials made it feel like you just stepped out into the galaxy for a taste of the stars themselves. :')

The main reason for the trip though was seeing Lights in her special acoustic performance. Her delicate singing and beautiful lyrics of the songs that I admire so much literally brought excess moisture to my eyes. Almost to river form. And then, I got the extra bonus feature of hearing a brand new song that she wrote this year that I can relate to in more ways than one. The lyrics at the top of this blog were from this song :)





My more photographerish photos were posted to Flickr :)
Good Night
Brooke