Happy July 4, 2011

I am listening to the pop of firecrackers in the distance, but I only saw them on TV this July 4th.  We had quite a storm pass through Durham this evening, so we did not venture out to the ballpark to see if the show was still on.  While listening to wonderful patriotic music on TV provided by the Boston Pops, I decided to flip back to photos from my two trips to Washington, DC this year.  It is a city I never tire of.  I go once a year with the 7th graders, on our annual class trip.  This year I got to go a second time, in April, to play tour guide for my French visitors.  It was fun to see the city through their eyes.  They had studied it in class and several of them treated me to part of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The sites are familiar, but I honestly get chills every time I see them.  What an amazing city, so full of history.
Honest Abe, FDR, Jefferson, MLK, Jr. (the memorial will open in August 2011)...

In April, with cherry blossoms and tulips...

Monuments and memorials are everywhere--

As well as the most famous home in our country--

Where our laws are made--

Where justice is served--

And a reminder of what Americans have been through in the past 10 years as drawn by my late friend, Doug Marlette, may he rest in peace (on display in the Newseum).

Bon appétit, Americans everywhere!