sigh
chant mistress
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2001
- Posts
- 10,248
...and what an interesting time THAT was. My son and I went, just an extension of our American Government homeschooling unit, but when we scheduled this months ago who would have figured that we'd hit the start of a war right on the head? The security was astonishing. At times there were six, eight or ten police cruisers all lined up unmoving along any given street with their lights whirling, with 4 officers to a car. There seemed to be hordes of uniformed policemen walking in groups along the streets and in the Metro stations. Peace protesters marched almost daily and sirens wailed as recue vehicles zoomed from place to place.
Helicoptors floated overhead, yellow police tape cordoned off areas and some nut was in the pond at the Constitutional Gardens in his tractor protesting the farm plight in North Carolina tobacco country (apparently unaware that another, somewhat more dramatic story was unfolding elsewhere). Many of the major attractions were closed to the public, including the White House, Capitol building, Bureau of Engraving, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean Memorials, and, at the very end, the Washington Monument. The Department of Justice building was surrounded by an eight foot chain link fence topped with barbed wire and the gates were chained.
I lost count of the times we set off metal detectors and stood for bag checks and wanding. At Dulles and Indianapolis airports I just kept our IDs and boarding passes in my hand because we were asked to show them so often.
I'm glad to be home. Life is much more peaceful here. But I'm glad we went too. We saw more than we missed and for a brief time we lived within a shadow of the intensity that our leaders are enduring unendingly. I have no idea what drives men and women into public service, but I'm glad they have chosen to so that I won't have to.
Oh, and the Saint Patrick's Day Parade was AWESOME. Those military bands sent shivers of delight right up my back (and a bit into my groin as well, if truth be told).
Helicoptors floated overhead, yellow police tape cordoned off areas and some nut was in the pond at the Constitutional Gardens in his tractor protesting the farm plight in North Carolina tobacco country (apparently unaware that another, somewhat more dramatic story was unfolding elsewhere). Many of the major attractions were closed to the public, including the White House, Capitol building, Bureau of Engraving, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean Memorials, and, at the very end, the Washington Monument. The Department of Justice building was surrounded by an eight foot chain link fence topped with barbed wire and the gates were chained.
I lost count of the times we set off metal detectors and stood for bag checks and wanding. At Dulles and Indianapolis airports I just kept our IDs and boarding passes in my hand because we were asked to show them so often.
I'm glad to be home. Life is much more peaceful here. But I'm glad we went too. We saw more than we missed and for a brief time we lived within a shadow of the intensity that our leaders are enduring unendingly. I have no idea what drives men and women into public service, but I'm glad they have chosen to so that I won't have to.
Oh, and the Saint Patrick's Day Parade was AWESOME. Those military bands sent shivers of delight right up my back (and a bit into my groin as well, if truth be told).
