It's been a busy week away from home. My SIL and her two children are visiting this week from Texas. Yesterday, we rented bikes to tour the monuments in Washington D.C.
Honestly, it's a wonderful way to visit all the monuments and all the museums. But yesterday? A heat wave has hit the East Coast so it was about 105ºF (41ºC)!!
To say it was hot was an understatement. The kids were tough and powered through.
This is Cate.
She was a good sport in humoring her Aunt Susan by taking this picture. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the screen in the sun to line up her finger correctly, so I missed it. But her face was so cute that I have to share it anyway.
Unfortunately, the Mall was all torn up while they re-furbish the lawn and...the reflecting pool is still empty and therefore, not reflectng...
You can see Jim in the picture guarding the bikes while the rest of us went up to visit the Lincoln Memorial.
This is Travis riding under the Cherry trees in the Tidal Basin.
He was a complete trooper and hardly made a peep about the ungodly heat.
And even though the reflecting pool wasn't reflecting, the Tidal Basin was...
But my favorite part of that most very hot day was our stop at the Jefferson Memorial. It's open to the elements so for what little breeze there was, we felt it there. It was quiet there.
A time to sit and reflect and think. It's a serene place to visit...not as crowded especially on this hot day because it's a bit of trek to get there from the main Mall. A bike makes it much easier.
And my favorite shot was this one of Jack.
He must have sat for 10 minutes against that column, taking in the words of Jefferson...
And considering the dome above....
He's a thinker, that Jack.
Finally he got up and came over to me to tell me that because there were not carvings in the center of the dome, there was no depth perception either. You couldn't tell if the center dome was 5 ft deep or 20 ft deep. And did I notice the spiral design that resulted from the decreasing diagonals of the squares? (You can't really see those too well in the picture but I hadn't noticed them until he said something.) So THAT was what he was thinking...
I love this age. So many neurons are firing. And he's absorbing information at lightning speed and drawing his own conclusions. We're having some really thought-provoking conversations these days...it sure is keeping us on our toes...
I should be back to stitching tomorrow. Have a great weekend!
10 comments:
I love DC! Great photos ~ seems like you all, enjoyed yourselves despite the awful heat.
He has your eye for detail...
I am amazed every day by something one of the boys say and sometimes its simply realizing that their minds are questioning and finding their own answers.
Sorry, I sent that heat east to you. 80's are on their way.
xx, Carol
I saw that first picture and thought, 'Wow, it must be hot. Most women's arms aren't dewy'. (ok, I actually thought 'sweaty', but dewy sounds nicer) what a brave bunch but bike riding sounds like a great idea to see the monuments. A little breezier too while riding.
Nice trip and I just wonder if it´s law in the US to wear a helmet?
Nana
Thanks for the tour,great views. Could you send a few degrees of heat over to the UK and I will send a few drops of rain to cool you down.
With your example before him, of appreciation of detail and symbolism, and of care and attention in creating beautiful things, I'm not surprised he's turning into a thoughtful and observant young man.
What a fabulous post. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Great pics. The weather sounds scorching! I hope to go visit DC one day...on a cooler day... but meanwhile I had a tour courtesy of you. Thank you.
Jack has inherited your eye for detail!
Deb
Hi Susan- it even looks hot in the pictures!! I agree though- bikes are the best way to tour the DC area there-- you have some marvelous pictures. I think the kids were real troopers--- and I bet Jack IS a real thinker!!
Vicki
You are all such troopers!! You could not have paid me to be out in that heat last week!!! Love the pics of Jack!! Put a few bricks on his head will ya!!!!!
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