mister toad goes to washington

by way of virginia. on the way to DC, we stopped at fredricksburg for lunch. i am not what you'd call a "civil war buff", but i did recognize the name, and lo and behold, on the way out of town (after a decisively excellent lunch at an irish pub (!)), we came across a confederate cemetary. how did i know it was a confederate cemetary?

inside were a sobering number of graves. from looking at signs we determined that the graves had been moved to make room for more recent additions in the early part of the 20th century.

some folks visit still, it seemed. that's the confederate flag (the one on top of the general lee is the confederate battle flag, not the flag of the CSA. i may not be a "buff" but i do know a thing or two.). the iron cross dingus says CSA which i guessed (and later confirmed) stands for Confederate States of America.

eventually, we made it to dc. upon entering the metro (DC's subway), i was greeted by a fellow mohawkian. he wanted his picture taken with me, so i got one of us, too. he'd had his mowhawk created the night before while he was slightly more drunk than his "friends". then, the day of the photo, he'd had a local salon fix it up. i did mine in the hotel room with TSA-approved hair gunk.

although his facial hair was nearly identical to what i sported for my driver's license photo, i don't think his was a joke.

the washington monument is big.

really big.

you won't move it.

the view from the lincoln memorial is actually quite moving. in fact, the visit to the lincoln memorial was the most interesting part of the trip. looking out across the reflection pool, i could nearly feel the weight of the nation upon me.

pondering lincoln's role in the formation of our nation, in light of my more recent understanding of our nation's direction, i had to question my former assumptions about his positive impact. my feelings are now mixed. more research is indicated.

i and i.

who owns the government of the united states of america? not you and me, my friend. not you and me.

but we have the most open democracy in the world, yes? input welcome from citizens?

it is fitting that lincoln's view is one of ponderous, peaceful, solemn contemplation, while the senators' view is of...

(zoom)

toward the end of our rounds, we wandered up to what looked like, and turned out to be the supreme court. it's big. and impressive. and ultimately, not so big on the inside, i reckon, but how would i know? i'm just a lowly citizen, i can't get inside.

last but not least, your tax dollars at work.