When I was a child, my grandparents took my brother and I to Washington, D.C., for a weekend or so.
It looked beautiful, and it was very exciting to see all of these important and famous buildings and symbols of the nation, from the White House to the Capitol Building to the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, all with the backdrop of the National Mall.
I remember looking at the White House, and being in wonder at the significance of the place, knowing that this was where President Reagan slept and worked.
Before we left, on the morning of our departure, we had a big breakfast at some restaurant or other, and I ordered a huge waffle. Everyone wondered if I would be able to finish it, since my appetite at the time was notoriously small (that is one thing that definitely has changed over the course of these years).
I did finish it, although it made me feel so filled to the brim, that it took most of the day for me to work it off, if you will. A part of me still goes back to that day in the nation's capital during my childhood whenever I have good quality waffles.
There was another memory from my childhood that always reminded me of Washington, D.C., as well. That was a set of stamps (Scott 1318 and Scott 1365-68, specifically) that showed the colorful cherry blossoms that Washington is so famous for.
These seemed to me to be almost a relic of a more idyllic time. I knew that these stamps were issued during the sixties at some point, either during the Kennedy or Johnson years. Those were times when, it seemed to me, things were really happening. Kennedy seemed like an almost dreamlike leader to me: young, energetic, handsome, highly intelligent and witty. All in all, the very embodiment of the best that the country had to offer. Johnson, in the meantime, had pushed through his "Great Society" with some very significant civil rights legislation, an important war on poverty that went some ways towards a more equitable and fair society, and, it seemed to me, he pushed this campaign, which the stamps were honoring, for planting for a more beautiful America. Thus, the more idealistic times of the sixties seemed like much more noble times to my mind's eye than those that we were living under during my own childhood, with Reagan speaking of the "Evil Empire" and a spirit of greed pervading the land.
Admittedly, all of these years ago, despite knowing that these cherry blossoms were a gift from Japan that far outdated either Kennedy or Johnson, and despite understanding some things better about both Kennedy and Johnson that portray them in a significantly less flattering light than what I believed of them back during my childhood, the sight of the cherry blossoms along the banks of the Tidal Basin, and along the National Mall, with the monuments often peeking through all of that wonderful, colorful foliage. It still seems to me beautiful, and worthy of dreaming for a better country, one with values befitting all of the power and privilege that the nation has been blessed with, and seems to be squandering.
In short, the site of important and iconic national monuments framed against the backdrop of all of those wonderful, beautiful cherry blossoms still inspires me. This, despite so much else about the nation's capital these days that seems nauseating and symbolic of all that is wrong with America.
As I mention in this piece that I wrote for Take Off/Set Sail, I took my own son for a trip to Washington to see the cherry blossoms a couple of years ago, back in 2013. There were some cherry blossoms there, but it was not the explosion of color that I had been hoping for and half expecting, given the relative lateness of the season (this was in the first week of April). Still, it was a nice experience to share with my son.
It still moves me, the cherry blossoms of Washington, and I still appreciate them. So much so that I wrote this article about them, about the history and significance of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington each year, and I hope that you will take a look at it by clicking on the link below.
Enjoy!
It looked beautiful, and it was very exciting to see all of these important and famous buildings and symbols of the nation, from the White House to the Capitol Building to the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, all with the backdrop of the National Mall.
I remember looking at the White House, and being in wonder at the significance of the place, knowing that this was where President Reagan slept and worked.
Before we left, on the morning of our departure, we had a big breakfast at some restaurant or other, and I ordered a huge waffle. Everyone wondered if I would be able to finish it, since my appetite at the time was notoriously small (that is one thing that definitely has changed over the course of these years).
I did finish it, although it made me feel so filled to the brim, that it took most of the day for me to work it off, if you will. A part of me still goes back to that day in the nation's capital during my childhood whenever I have good quality waffles.
There was another memory from my childhood that always reminded me of Washington, D.C., as well. That was a set of stamps (Scott 1318 and Scott 1365-68, specifically) that showed the colorful cherry blossoms that Washington is so famous for.
These seemed to me to be almost a relic of a more idyllic time. I knew that these stamps were issued during the sixties at some point, either during the Kennedy or Johnson years. Those were times when, it seemed to me, things were really happening. Kennedy seemed like an almost dreamlike leader to me: young, energetic, handsome, highly intelligent and witty. All in all, the very embodiment of the best that the country had to offer. Johnson, in the meantime, had pushed through his "Great Society" with some very significant civil rights legislation, an important war on poverty that went some ways towards a more equitable and fair society, and, it seemed to me, he pushed this campaign, which the stamps were honoring, for planting for a more beautiful America. Thus, the more idealistic times of the sixties seemed like much more noble times to my mind's eye than those that we were living under during my own childhood, with Reagan speaking of the "Evil Empire" and a spirit of greed pervading the land.
Admittedly, all of these years ago, despite knowing that these cherry blossoms were a gift from Japan that far outdated either Kennedy or Johnson, and despite understanding some things better about both Kennedy and Johnson that portray them in a significantly less flattering light than what I believed of them back during my childhood, the sight of the cherry blossoms along the banks of the Tidal Basin, and along the National Mall, with the monuments often peeking through all of that wonderful, colorful foliage. It still seems to me beautiful, and worthy of dreaming for a better country, one with values befitting all of the power and privilege that the nation has been blessed with, and seems to be squandering.
In short, the site of important and iconic national monuments framed against the backdrop of all of those wonderful, beautiful cherry blossoms still inspires me. This, despite so much else about the nation's capital these days that seems nauseating and symbolic of all that is wrong with America.
As I mention in this piece that I wrote for Take Off/Set Sail, I took my own son for a trip to Washington to see the cherry blossoms a couple of years ago, back in 2013. There were some cherry blossoms there, but it was not the explosion of color that I had been hoping for and half expecting, given the relative lateness of the season (this was in the first week of April). Still, it was a nice experience to share with my son.
It still moves me, the cherry blossoms of Washington, and I still appreciate them. So much so that I wrote this article about them, about the history and significance of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington each year, and I hope that you will take a look at it by clicking on the link below.
Enjoy!
Spring to the Cherry Blossom Festival in the Nation’s Capital May 4, 2015
Here are pictures of those stamps that I was mentioning earlier:
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