Memorial Day 2006

We had a reception at our house yesterday for a friend of the family that just graduated summa cum laude and other honors from Southern Nazarene University. She was awarded a Bachelor's degree in education. I've been working on the exterior of the house for the past few days and so I wasn't able to post yesterday about my visit to the National Museum of Natural History. I'll post that later.

Today I want to post the photos that I took on my visit to Arlington National Cemetery. The soldiers that guard the Tomb of the Unknowns make a serious committment to this duty. The Tomb has been guarded 24 hrs a day since 1937. http://www.tombguard.org/FAQ.html

This is not on the Tomb of Unknowns. This engraving is at the foot of the entrance to the Memorial Amphi- theater. The way I was taught, the year 1915 in Roman numerals should be MCMXV but this has MDCCCCXV. While this does add up to 1915, I think it may just fall into the category of "artistic liberty".

Here the replacement Sentinel and the Com- mander are coming in for the changing of the Guard. Those lines are not painted on the ground, they're worn into the stone.

The Sentinel coming on duty (standing on the stone) and the Commander (walking on the mat).

The Sentinel going off duty (left, facing to the right) the Commander (middle, facing the camera) and the Sentinel coming on duty (right, facing to the left).

The Sentinel that has just come on duty is now on the mat. The Commander and the Sentinel going off duty will exit on the same exact worn paths.

The obligatory grave marker shot. It may sound trite, but no matter how many times you've seen similar photographs actually being at Arlington Cemetery is quite moving.

The much visited gravesite of JFK, Jackie O and two of their children that died in infancy.

Turning around at JFK's gravesite, you can see the Washington Monument in the distance.

The National Mall

Now just in case you weren't paying attention in 8th grade Civics class...

yes class, its the entire Gettysburg Address carved into the wall (in the side wall located on Pres. Lincoln's right) in the Lincoln Memorial.

President Lincoln (he looks really cool in person but the flood lights on him just completely washed out any detail in this picture). Also, on the top step of about the third tier of steps (the steps are slightly darker, no joke, the guide said so) is a stone with an inscription commemorating Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and his "I have a Dream" speech. I could barely make out the words "I have a Dream" so I didn't even attempt a picture.

Oh no! Look! Up in the sky! An airplane is flying over the Lincoln Memorial! Is it safe!?!

No worries. A small section of the National Mall now looks like boot camp (I should have gotten a picture of the missile launcher - not a joke).

Here is a nice shot of the Washington Monument with "the reflecting pool made famous in the movie 'Forrest Gump' " :-)

Same monument, a couple hours after dark. Can you see the two different colors of stone used in building the monument? It was started and then construction had to be stopped. When construction on the monument resumed, they couldn't get the exact same stone that they started with so the bottom third is a lighter color. This also shows up in the photo in my May 10 post. There the sunset is hitting the monument and it blazes.

Because I love the flag. Seriously.

Just about to cross the street while walking back to the subway station (it stays open until 3am on weekends) and I noticed the full moon. Ran back to the Washington Monument and circled until moon was in the "right" spot. Didn't like how that shot looked so I took this one laying down on the ground. If you're a photog, then you know what I'm talking about.

Looking down the National Mall towards the Capitol. The main building of the Smithsonian "The Castle" can be seen on right hand side of the picture. The flat white triangle in front of the Capitol is the tent seen with the helicopter in the above photograph. No, I didn't climb up in the cherry picker (shadow) to get a better shot but yes, it did pass through my mind.

This was taken from just about the same spot on the previous evening. And, I actually managed to get about the same "scenery" - you can see the Capitol in the distance and the flag on top of the Castle building to the right.

The Castle. Statue of James Smithson in front. http://www.si.edu/visit/infocenter/sicastle.htm

The reflecting pool in front of the Capitol. Its too shallow to fish in (but thats not a problem because you wouldn't want to eat anything that came out of that water). I wonder what contributes to the foul smell more - the birds (fowl) or the Congress?? [S. 2611 (for example) stinks...]

The Capitol taken while standing next to a statue of General Grant. This statue is at about the 9 o'clock position in the previous photograph.

The Capitol. At dusk. Askew. Because I think it looks cool.

One of my friends said that she saw "the sniper" step behind one of the tall columns. I don't doubt that there is now a sniper (in addition to the tanks, helicopters and missile launchers) guarding the Capitol, but I didn't see him.

Coming soon - the Museum of Natural History!

A few more D.C. pics

Oy Vey! Frustration! i'm gonna just post this as-is b/c i the machine is not co-operating with me today. Have to get to work.

All these D.C. pics were taken on my (not expensive) Motorola camera phone.

Here I'm at the WW II Memorial. It is situated between the Lincoln Memorial (seen here in the background) and the Washington Monument. The WW II Memorial is a relatively new addition to the National Mall and apparently there was some controversy about it's location. Some felt that it would obscure the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument. To prevent this, an existing fountain (seen in the May 10 entry) was "lowered" and the WW II Memorial was built around it.


One of the waterfalls at the WW II Memorial. By design, when you are walking all around the Memorial, you hear the fountain in the center. Then, to provide a "place for contem- plation" in what is a frankly noisy place (people, traffic, fountain, etc.); the designers included two short waterfalls. They are less than 5 ft tall but rather wide and (you can't really appreciate it in the picture) there is a lot of water coming over this falls. As you approach the falls and come to stand on the darker brick border, the quiet roar of the falls overcomes each of the other distracting sounds until you could close your eyes and believe that you are alone with the falls. Honestly, it's a pretty cool acoustic illusion.






On one side of the WW II Memorial is a stone engraved with President Frankling Delano Roosevelt's famous "date which will live in infamy" speech and his promis to "win through to absolute victory".








There is a tower marked "Atlantic" and (obviously) this a picture of the "Pacific" tower. I took a picture of this because my granddad served in the Pacific during World War II.

Caspian Surfer

When Daughter was very young, she learned the word "puppy". Almost immediately, Daughter began asking for her very own puppy. Tio and Abuelo (Uncle and Grandpa) were Very Happy about this and began immediately to scheme to get a puppy to Daughter. These plans came to a screeching halt when Daddy made it clear that Daddy was NOT going to take care of a puppy and anybody that gave Daughter a puppy would get it right back.

Time passed. As Daughter grew older she continued to ask for a puppy. Undaunted, Daddy remained resolute. In a slick move, Tio gave Daughter a beta (fish) for Christmas 2004. This seemed to placate Daughter somewhat, so Daddy and Mommy bought a (cheap) fishtank and a few toys for the fish (Alexander).

Invariably, when Tio would call, he would ask Daddy "Is Alexander still alive?" (apparently betas in captivity have a ridiculously short life span) - to always the same answer "(heavy sigh) Yep." . Daughter had to feed Alexander (because Daddy was NOT going to do it). Daughter had to occassionally change Alexander's water (with Daddy's help - no need for unnecessary heartbreak). Later, Daughter even made Alexander some additional "scenery" for his tank. This was fashioned out of Play-Dough. (a word to the wise - don't put Play-Dough in a fish tank - it gets slimy quicker than anything else in the tank)

Fast forward to Friday, May 12, 2006 when Providence, Friendship and Internet came together ("conspired" sounds so harsh) to present a unique opportunity to Mommy and Daddy. (start reading this saga on May 11 http://hudbuds.blogspot.com/ ) Providence (in the form of a pack of dogs) chased a scared puppy to the house of Mr & Mrs Friendship. Mrs Friendship used Internet photographs and email to alert Mommy and Daddy of a "learning opportunity" for Daughter. (Mr & Mrs Friendship Knew that Mommy and Daddy love "learning opportunities") After discussing the pros and cons, Mommy and Daddy decided that "the Day has arrived". Saturday Mrs Friendship did Mommy and Daddy a HUGE favor and took puppy to the vet and Mr & Mrs Friendship helped Mommy & Daddy set up Daughter for a huge surprise. Needless to say, Daughter was ecstatic! Puppy was dubbed "Caspian" (in honor of Prince Caspian of Narnia fame) and before reaching home, Daughter announced that Caspian's middle name was "Surfer".

(Note the shock of blond on the top of Caspian Surfer's head)

Caspian now has run of most of the house. Carpeted areas (read:bedrooms) are still off-limits. Caspian sleeps in the hall in front of Daughter's room with a baby gate in the doorway.

As a side note, Sunday afternoon Mommy, Daddy & Daughter returned home to find a bite in the vertical blinds and a new "peephole" torn in one of the (cheap) horizontal blinds. Caspian is a very smart dog and we don't foresee any future problems. Mr Friendship loaned Daddy an instructional DVD (its been 30 years since Daddy has had a dog) and it has proved most helpful.

Much more dramatic was the discovery of Alexander, floating in his fish bowl. A thorough investigation was conducted and it was concluded that Caspian was in no way culpable - apparently Alexander's number was finally up.

Now Mommy is trying to decide what to plant in Alexander's former home. The pictured empty fish bowl was an upgrade from the original fish tank and a gift from Mommy's best friend. (Its much bigger than it looks)

DC - more pics

I was going to title this "NCRA - more pics" and then I realized that every picture I took was while sightseeing. I took one picture in Reagan National Airport of a flag and, if you already know what she looks like, you can sort of make out my boss'es head near the edge of the picture. No pictures of my friends. I'm such a horrible person. :-) More pictures to come later.

Here is a picture of some Canadians who want to get their picture taken with a real hero. (I mean, if you're from Canada what do you really have to be proud of?)

Here is a picture of the reflecting pool made famous in the movie "Forrest Gump" :-)

Here is a shot of the exterior of the Lincoln Memorial at dusk. (I learned that apparently Junior High kids have not yet been taught to read the words "Quiet. Show Respect."). Maybe I could blame all the noise on those rowdy Canadians, eh?
The Korean War Memorial at night. This picture does not do justice to the Memorial. The way the statues are lit after dark gives it a haunting, mournful air. (And they sorta look like ghosts after dark, which is sorta cool.)

Another shot of the Korean War Memorial.

NCRA - Advocacy

The conference lasted Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I spent the day Friday traveling up to D.C. and I didn't get back home until almost midnight Monday. I have decided that I hate weekend conferences. It was impossible for me to remember what day it was and for some people, attending the conference meant that they had a 12 day work week. Fortunately for me, my boss gave us a couple days off.

The best part of the conference, as far as I'm concerned, was Monday's "Walk on the Hill". NCRA had previously asked for volunteers for this and then they arranged for us to meet with the office of our Representative. The logic behind choosing a Representative instead of a Senator is that the Representatives are reelected every two years - so they are sort of constantly running for office and more likely to listen to their constituency. Also they represent a district instead of an entire state so they're not being quite so overwhelmed.

A couple years ago, the leadership of NCRA went to Washington D.C. and spoke to their representatives. They felt that it was a positive experience and so the "Walk on the Hill" was set up for this year's conference. I went to the office of my local Representative and then, before the day was over, I went with friends to the offices of three other Texas representatives.

The offices of four Representatives in one day - what can I say but DEMOCRACY ROCKS!!! There was a luncheon Sunday to give us the details on the "messages" that we were to deliver (they had clip art from Schoolhouse Rock in the powerpoint presentation - does anybody remember "I'm just a bill up on Capitol Hill" ?) and I conducted myself very professionally. On the advice of my friend, Emmanuel, I didn't take my phone/camera with me to the Hill (too distracting) and (even though theres only one letter difference) I didn't wear my NRA shooter's hat to the Hill. Yes, I did have it with me but thats a story for another post.

NCRA - first pics

Well I just got back from a really cool trip to the 32nd Annual Educational Conference of the National Cancer Registrar's Association (NCRA). As you can tell from the pictures, it was in Washington, D.C. this year. I'll be posting more pictures later and it'll take me two or three posts to tell everything that I want to tell about the trip.