Making every day the best it can be...
TODAY IS MY FAVORITE DAY
  • Home
  • About

An Outing to the Lincoln Memorial

10/4/2019

0 Comments

 
Living just outside of Washington, D.C. can have its advantages. This week Clare memorized a portion of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address for school. To inspire her, I told her that we would visit the Lincoln Memorial Friday evening if she recited the address for her teacher that day. The Second Inaugural Address is carved on one of the walls of the Memorial. 

The best time to see the memorials in D.C. is at night. They are beautiful when lit up. I've been wanting to take the girls on a tour of all the memorials, but it was too hot in the summer to enjoy them. This night was perfect. The temperature was around 70. We left just before sunset and the breeze was just picking up. Someone was taking advantage of that breeze by flying a rather unusual kite near the Washington Monument. As we drove near the National Mall, Anne yelled, "There's a dementor." Indeed, it did look like these creatures from the Harry Potter universe that suck all hope out of those near them had taken over the Nation's Capital. 
Picture
I am happy to say we must have had our Patronuses in working order, because we made it passed the dementor, found a parking place and walked to the Lincoln Memorial. 

Rather than going to the large statue of Lincoln sitting in a chair, Clare walked directly to the Second Inaugural Address and found the words she had memorized. It truly is a beautiful speech. The night before she had practiced the speech while we walked our dog and we talked about the meaning of the words. It is striking to think of the Civil War as a punishment for the sin of slavery. Lincoln reflects that God may will that "every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword." 

Because the night was so beautiful, the girls were eager to visit the memorials on either side of the Lincoln Memorial. We first went to the Korean War Memorial. The sun had completely set as we walked to the Korean Memorial so I warned the girls that the statues of the soldiers can be surprisingly realistic--especially at night. The smile on Meg's face below is the moment she realized how realistic they do seem. Clare's first comment was it looked like the White Witch's garden in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Anne thought the statue's looked like the chessmen in the wizard's chess game at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. After we had been at the memorial for a few minutes, Clare said, "You can tell the personality of each soldier." We talked about what makes great art. The design of this memorial is moving to the observer because each soldier appears as an individual. They are not faceless, uniform soldiers. These are men we care about. 
Our conversation about the power of art continued as we stopped by the Reflecting Pool. To prepare the girls for the Vietnam Memorial, I told them that many had objected to the design of the memorial initially because they didn't believe it was special enough. However, once it was built, many of those people changed their minds. I then waited to see the girls' reaction to the Vietnam Memorial. As the number of names grew, Clare simply asked, "This many people died?" She then began to cry. A few minutes later we met a Vietnam Veteran, who explained the way the names were listed on the memorial. He showed us a more recently added name of a man who was one of the first men to die in Vietnam. The man's son died in Vietnam 9 years later. The names of both father and son appear on the memorial. 
It was a memorable night for us. As we drove home, we somberly found ourselves debating war. Meg and Clare firmly believed it was wrong for so many people to have to die. Anne said that war was necessary for nations to be created. Yes, Anne is only 5-years-old and I didn't realize she had been studying nation building in her spare time. It definitely triggered a lot of thought in us all. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am Sandra Penfield--a one-time lawyer who is now a very happy stay-at-home mom. This blog is about making every day the very best it can be and preserving those memories for my children.​

    Disclosure

    This blog participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.  Through this affiliate advertising program I can earn fees (at no additional cost to you) by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. When you click on the link and purchase the product, I receive a commission.
    Great Series to Read When You Are Stuck At Home

    Archives

    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    March 2013

    Categories

    All
    529 Kids Consign
    Academy Of Wizardry
    Advent Calendar
    Air And
    Air And Space Museum
    Alexandria Library
    American History Museum
    Ancient History
    Anne Bronte
    Apple Cider Doughnuts
    Apple Picking
    Applesauce
    Aquarium
    Archdiocese Of Washington
    Arlington
    Art
    Ash Wednesday
    Audio Books
    Aunt Carrie's
    Autumn Is For Apples
    A World Of Cookies For Santa
    Ballet
    Baltimore Aquarium
    Beach
    Beatrix Potter
    Beatrix Potter: A Life In Nature
    Beautiful Feet Books
    Benedictines Of Mary
    Benjamin Bunny
    Berry Picking
    Book Barn
    Bookish Princess
    Book Of Nonsense
    Book Party
    Book Review
    Books
    Books And Things
    Books Like Whoa
    BookTube
    Bronte
    Brookside Gardens
    Bunnyland
    Burns Night
    Butler's Orchard
    Butter
    Cake
    Capitol Hill Art Workshop
    Carousel
    Carving Pumpkins
    Cassatt
    Catholic Madness
    Chamomile
    Cherokee
    Children's Museum
    Children's Museum Of Richmond
    Children's Science Lab
    Chocolat
    Christmas Around The World
    Cinderella
    Cleaning
    Clemyjontri
    Cluck
    Cooking
    Corcoran
    Corn Maze
    Cottage Tales Of Beatrix Potter
    Cox Farms
    Cracker Barrel
    Creativity For Kids
    Crown Of Thorns
    Cuneiform
    Cuneiform Cut-out Cookies
    Cut Out Cookies
    Cylinder Seals
    Daffodils
    Dame Frevisse
    DC
    Dear Peter Rabbit
    Deep Time
    Degas
    Dollhouse
    Dress Up
    Duckpin Bowling
    Easter
    Edaville
    Edward Lear
    Elizabeth Enright
    Elizabeth Peters
    Enders Island
    Epiphany
    Fair
    Fairy Tales
    Faith Quest
    Family Traditions
    Farm
    Felicity: An American Girl Adventure
    First Ladies
    Flight
    Flight Trampoline
    Folger Shakespeare Library
    Fort Ward
    Frying Pan Farm
    Garden
    Giotto
    Governor's Palace
    Grayson Highlands State Park
    Green Springs Garden
    Gulf Branch Nature Center
    Halloween
    Harry Potter
    Harry Potter Party
    Hayride
    Historical Scene Investigations
    Historic Triangle
    Hollin Farms
    Holy Rosary
    Holy Saturday
    Homeschool
    Homeschool Christmas
    Homeschool Curriculum
    Homestead Farm
    House Of Burgesses
    If You Lived...
    I Love Lucy
    International Spy Museum
    Inventions
    Irish Step Dancing
    Jackson Pollock
    Jamestown
    Jeanne Birdsall
    Jesse Tree
    Josiah Chowding
    Jotham's Journey
    Kate Howe
    Kennedy Center
    Korean War Memorial
    Ladybug Girl
    Lakeshore Learning
    Lavender Moon Cupcakes
    Lent
    Liberty Kids
    Library
    Library Lion
    Library Of Congress
    Life Between Words
    Lighthouse
    Lincoln Memorial
    Little House
    Little House On The Prairie
    Long Branch Nature Center
    Louisa May Alcott
    Macbeth
    Madeline
    Manassas
    Margaret Frazer
    Maryland Science Center
    McDuff
    Meadowbrook Lanes
    Memorial
    Mesopotamia
    Michelle Knudsen
    Miss Potter
    Montrose Park
    Monuments
    Mount Vernon
    Movies
    Mud
    Museum Sleepover
    Mystic Aquarium
    Narnia
    Narrow River
    National Aboretum
    National Arboretm
    National Gallery Of Art
    National Geographic Museum
    Natural History Museum
    Nature Center
    Nature Class
    Nature Walk
    New Echota
    Nonsense Songs And Stories
    Old Town Alexandria
    Overdrive
    Overdrive.com
    Pages & Co
    Paint
    Painting
    Paint This!
    Paint -your-own-pottery
    Pancakes
    Parks
    Penderwick
    Penderwicks
    Pentecost
    Peter Rabbit
    Pick-pockets
    Ponies
    Presidents
    Pumpkin
    Pumpkin Carving
    Pumpkin Picking
    Pumpkins
    Q?rius
    Queen Of Apostles
    Queens Of Egypt
    Reading
    Reading Advent Coloring Calendar
    Retreat Center
    Rhode Island
    Rice Balls
    River Farm Gardens
    Roger Williams Park
    Roly-poly-pudding
    Romeo And Juliet
    Sacred-heart
    Science
    Science Experiments
    Scooters
    Scotland
    Secret Garden
    Shakespeare
    Shrove Tuesday
    Sky Meadow State Park
    Sleeping Beauty
    Smithsonian
    Smithsonian Sleepover
    Snow
    Snow White
    Sound Of Music
    Soup
    Spark!Lab Smithsonian
    Splatter Painting
    Spring
    Star Trek
    Stories In Art
    Storytime
    St. Patrick's Day
    Sumer
    Sunflowers
    Swan Boats
    Tea Party
    Tempest
    Theater
    The Cranberries
    The Good And The Beautiful
    The Gruffalo
    The King's Arms
    The Lion
    The Penderwicks
    The Saturdays
    The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall
    The Waste Land
    The Witch And The Wardrobe
    Thomas The Tank Engine
    Tillly And The Book Wanderers
    Tom Kitten
    Trader Joe's
    Trains
    Trundle Bed
    T.S. Eliot
    Twelfth Night
    Twin Oaks
    Valentines
    Vietnam Memorial
    Wagon
    Waldorf
    Washington County Fair
    Watson Farm
    Williamsburg
    World War II Memorial
    Yorktown
    You Are My Sunshine

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.