Ben is taking a little nap so Mom has a chance to blog her thoughts
I've spent the last three Independence Days in our nation's capital, and I'm feeling a little nostalgic. In 2001, I was soaked in a rain storm with new friends and old as we watched the 4th of July activities from the Capitol lawn. Prior to the rainstorm, some of us took a little boat ride in Tidal Basin and heard the Marine band play on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. It was a fun day. In 2002, I played it safe and headed to Iwo Jima (in Roslyn, Virginia) and watched the fireworks from a top the hill overlooking D.C. It was my first Independence Day with Mike--the love of my life--and his sisters joined us, along with friends Nathan and Sarah. And last year, we got really crazy and stood in a security line for over an hour to be admitted to the LAWN by the Washington Monument. Mike's family joined us and Nathan and Sarah came along. You can count on a couple of things in D.C. on the 4th of July: the subway lines will be so long you will wonder if it would be easier to walk the 12 miles back to your car; you will touch and smell about 20 strangers you never wanted to while riding the Metro;and it will be so hot and humid you wonder why you didn't just stay home and watch it on tv. But when the next July approaches, all you can remember is those dazzling fireworks over the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial and you decide to come back for more.
But not this year.... This year, we'll be tame and watch fireworks safely from my parents' window. Ben won't have to jump at the noise, and it will be probably be about 78 degrees and not much of a crowd. Pleasant, really.
But someday, when Ben's a little older, my nostalgia will return and we'll introduce him to a D.C. Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day America!
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