A Weekend to Remember

     I am spending the weekend in Washington, DC. This morning I took the Metro from my hotel down to the Mall. Did you know that they charge an extra $2 to purchase a card for the Metro? It doesn't matter whether you use it and reuse it and recharge it forever, or if you just use it for one day. I guess it's a way to soak the tourists.

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center 

     I came out of the Metro at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. It made me wonder: what would Reagan think of Trump's trade policy?

     I am here to pick up our dog from my daughter, who has been dogsitting for us since last summer when B and I moved into a condo complex that prohibits pets. But now we have a house again, so we can take back our dog.

I think my parents had a car like this when I was a little kid

     I am meeting my daughter, up from North Carolina, on Sunday. I came early, so I could play tourist for the day -- and also reminisce a bit, since I spent a semester here when I was in college, and then visited several times a year when my sister lived in DC in the 1980s and '90s.

     Back when I was younger (and more idealistic?) I did a fair amount of volunteer work in politics. I was a Democrat (still am, tho' not as enthusiastic as I once was) and worked for McGovern and Carter, as well as several local candidates. I canvassed for our city mayor (he won) and for a candidate for the New York State Senate (he lost) and was even appointed to a town commission for my efforts.

Ah ... the memories!

     But that was then, and this is now. I wouldn't dream of working for a political party these days -- not because I don't think politics are important, they are, but because things have gotten so ugly and fractious. It seems politics have become a religion. You must believe in party dogma, which allows for no dissent unless it's from the most fundamentalist faction. You hate anyone who doesn't believe what you believe; you call them names, dehumanize them and ridicule their views.

     It seems that, as Yeats wrote in The Second Coming, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold ... while the best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of passionate intensity."

     But as you walk along the National Mall and visit the museums and see the people from all corners of the country, the political venom seems to fall away. Everybody stands in reverent memory over the events recollected in the Newseum, from the Berlin airlift to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Everybody can identify with the historical exhibits in the National Museum of American History. I learned that before Benedict Arnold turned traitor, he was a hero who along with Ethan Allen captured and defended Fort Ticonderoga, thwarting Britain's attempt to invade from Canada.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

     And, it seems, everyone is interested in the newest building on the Mall -- the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I tried to get a ticket to the museum ahead of time online; but it was sold out. When I went down there, I saw a huge line trailing down the street for the few tickets available at the door.

The Washington Monument

     So I the went to the history museum and saw the exhibits on money, transportation, military history, Japanese internment. I walked the Mall; saw the Capitol building, the Washington Monument, the White House. I wanted to see the Vietnam memorial, which I visit pretty much every time I come to Washington, but my knee gave out and so I just walked back up to Farragut Square (named after Civil War Admiral David Farragut, famous for the Battle of Mobile Bay) where I caught the Metro back to my hotel.

Farragut Square at K and 17th St.

     By the way, is anyone visiting Washington, DC, anytime soon? I have a Metro card for sale . . . just $2, which includes the cost of the card, plus a 65-cent credit for the amount I did not use this weekend.