This city cannot seem to make up its
mind about the weather. Last weekend it was sunny and in the mid-seventies and
the mall was filled with sun bathers and kite fliers. I awoke today greeted by
rain and temperatures in the upper forties that continued to drop throughout
the day. I had to bring back my fur trooper cap, gloves, and jackets that had
been all but packed away for the season in order to survive being posted
outside the Washington Monument throughout the day.
Despite such conditions I still
decided to take advantage of my new acquisition of a bike and ride into
work this morning. After looking for quite a while on craigslist I succeeded in
finding a bike for a good price and went and picked it up. I rode into work
the very next day and have continued to do so nearly every day since!
I am going to try and ride as much as I can. It is actually faster than
taking the metro, doesn't cost anything, and gives me the exercise! It does
make getting my uniform to work and carrying anything else with me a lot more
challenging though!
I am excited to take advantage of
some of the other trails in the area in the near future also. One that I really
want to do is the Mt. Vernon Trail, stretching along the Potomac River from
Theodore Roosevelt Island all the way down to Mt. Vernon. Someday soon I will
tackle that one!
I did get to go explore Theodore Roosevelt
Island this last Tuesday and also headed into Georgetown where I viewed
the stairs where the preacher tumbles down in "the exorcist" and got
free ice cream at Ben & Jerrys. Yay free ice cream day! I also encountered
a bar bearing my name. Seriously. Why it is there I don't know, but I had to
get a picture of course, and even went inside and ate dinner. The food wasn't
anything special, and neither was the establishment, but it bears my name, so
it was exciting!
On Wednesday I embarked upon a Civil
War Battlefield adventure. Over the course of 14 hours I traveled south to
Fredericksburg and visited five separate Civil War Battlefields:
Fredericksburg, Salem's Church, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, and
Spotsylvania Court House. It was great fun for me to be able to actually walk
the fields and see where all these things I have read about actually occurred!
Highlights included Chatham Manner, a beautiful old house overlooking the
Rappahannok that was a staging point for the Army of the Potomac's attack upon
Confederate forces on Marye's Heights in December, 1962. I got to see actually
trenches and earthworks in several different places, especially notable in The
Wilderness where the battle came alive before my eyes as I walked the ground
where the men had fought and died so long ago. I saw the place where Stonewall
Jackson fell at Chancellorsville, shot by his own men as he returned from
scouting enemy lines. I stood in the spot where Robert E. Lee famously
stated, "It is well that war is so terrible: otherwise we would grow
too fond of it" as he looked over the fighting at Fredericksburg. I
walked along the route taken by Winfield Scott Hancock and 20,000 fellow
soldiers to take the "muleshoe" and bloody angle at
Spotsylvania.
And as I walked amongst the fallen
on these fields of battle I made a decision. In May I am going to be doing a
special program about the "better angels of our nature" as reflected
in the story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the Civil War. I decided on
Wednesday that I am going to do the program in full uniform as Chamberlain. It
is going to require a tremendous amount of work and effort to do so, but it is
such an amazing opportunity to do something I have always wanted to do and to
actually portray a Civil War soldier while teaching people about some of the
unique stories of the people actually taking part in the fighting.
My job continues to provide
significant moments of connection with a wide variety of visitors and I
continue to receive unforgettable opportunities. A few days ago I once
again gave the MLK program at Lincoln, adding several new elements and
giving a much more engaging and passionate talk than I ever have previously.
This time I had more than 150 people gathered to listen to me tell the story
of how our understanding of freedom and equality has evolved and expanded in
the last two hundred and thirty years. It never ceases to humble and inspire me
to see people set aside time on their vacation to hear what I have to say as I
attempt to give meaning to the core ideals, not only of this country, but of
all of humanity.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of
joining a discussion group about the principles of Jesus meeting in the
carriage house of George Mason's old manor house in Arlington. A special guest
came and spoke about the fruits of the spirit and described fascinating
connections and understandings of those fruits in ways I had never known or
thought about before. It was wonderful to be challenged to process and think in
that way! And I also (of course) had to add my own thoughts and ended up
speaking about the cherry blossoms as symbols of living life to the full,
self-control, meekness, and honor through the story of the Samurai and the
significance of the blossoms to their culture.
Tomorrow marks the first true day of
the National Cherry Blossom Festival, but the official beginning came
yesterday when the Parks Service gave a press conference along the tidal
basin. I was selected to play a crucial part of the event by portraying
"Paddles" the Beaver, the official mascot of the festival. I shook
hands, gave high fives, and looked very beaver-esque. I also made the news in
several different venues. Three such appearances are available through the
links below... (I'm the giant bug-eyed "hoaky" beaver)
I am actually portraying paddles
again tomorrow for the first official day of the festival! As the crowds descend
the blossoms are out and beginning to bloom all throughout the park, forming
quite the inspiring sight!
Attached you will find a few picture
marking the highlights of the last week.
More adventures to come!
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