Light and Meaning

I’m beginning the second week of two weeks of training. It’s eight-hour days with a one-hour lunch, no stress, and lots of me-time. This is likely to be the last training I’m sent to; government policy changes are limiting any off-station training. The Powers That Be sent us to Arlington, VA for this one. I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the location, although anything that wasn’t my duty station was a plus. I have to admit, I’ve come to like my little section of Arlington. Good restaurants, pedestrian oriented, and lots of little surprises if you keep your eyes open.

Perhaps my favorite surprise is less than a block from where I’m staying. It’s a piece of art called “Flame”, made from steel and dichroic glass. In bright light the piece glistens, each facet in its own color. As the sun moves through the day, each pane changes color. Saturday I lingered over lunch at a sidewalk café that had a good view of the statue and every five minutes I’d look up to see it dressed in different colors. It is like watching a sunset or the slow circling of stars through the night sky.

The Professor came to visit with me over the weekend, and we took a day trip to D.C. via the Metro. It’s been almost two decades since I last rode the Metro, but it’s rather like riding a bike; I managed to get to the Smithsonian and back again without messing up. We chose to go to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, which I don’t believe I’d visited since high school. It was far more pop culture oriented than I remember, but I’m learning that my memory is not particularly reliable. I saw the Julia Child exhibit, got my picture taken with the Kermit display, and saw the 3-D tornado movie. There are times I love being a tourist.

After the American History Museum I visited a place I’d never been before: The National Archives. I can’t explain why, but it was important to me that I see in person the originals for the Declaration of Independence and, especially, the Constitution of the United States.

That’s not true. I can explain exactly why I needed to see them. These documents are still so important to people that I needed to stand in line to see them, and so important that an entire rotunda has been modified solely to preserve and protect the fragile parchments. They’ve been protected through centuries just so I can look at the signatures and get a lump in my throat because there, in front of me, are the signatures of Jefferson and Franklin and Wilson and Washington and Morris and all those who dared to stand apart and say “This is wrong; we’re going to fix it.” All those hands, all reaching out through time to me. Every one of them saying that it is always possible to form a more perfect union. I needed to see that reminder.