Lens Zen is an additional feature here at Stay Curious. Photography is another one of my creative crafts; I find it meditative, fun, and another outlet for expression. I especially love the idea of photography as an antidote to distraction and despair. Every other week I’ll share some captures/short writing to, I hope, add a bit of lift to your day.
I lived in D.C. from the fall of 1999 to the early summer of 2001. I was a graduate student with two roommates. Together we lived A Real Graduate Students of DC life, which did not involve partying at the French embassy, but did involve watering down the laundry detergent to make it last. One of the truly remarkable aspects of Washington is how much stuff is available to the public free of damn charge. Did you know that you can pop into The National Archives and see the for real, actual, not-a-facsimile Declaration of Independence and Bill O’Rights? No admission fee, no season pass required. The Smithsonian Institute has been rolling along for nearly 180 years, providing access to culture, education, and art through 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, and a butt ton of research and educational centers. All of the Smithsonian museums in DC, most sitting along the National Mall, are free. Feel like checking out gigantic whale bones on a Tuesday afternoon? Just duck into The Natural History Museum. Door’s open! It took a while to get used to breezing in to the National Gallery of Art without a ticket. I adapted.
When I lived there I spent a lot of time on the Mall, at the museums, and wandering around the monuments. These things were grad school budget-friendly and, for an artsy, history, culture dork like me, just awesome on every level. It’s impossible to stand at the base of The Lincoln Memorial and gaze up at his marble face that has been watching the tides of history for over a century, and not feel overcome with a lot of different emotions.
And that’s one of the beautiful and powerful aspects of these monuments: they may be set in stone, but their meanings, their significance, their impact is everchanging, just like the country around them.
We visited the city a few weeks ago. One of the things I didn’t do enough of when I lived there was tour the monuments at night. Each one has its own kind of illumination, transforming them. It’s a much different way to view these tributes that creates a unique experience. A “must do” on everyone’s itinerary.
Enjoy!
Breath-taking photography, Sheila. You have a real gift.
Lincoln actually admired Washington, so he probably would have seen his memorial next to Washington's as a compliment.