79. Visit Arlington Cemetery I had a few pretty big goals for my very first trip to Arlington Cemetery. I managed to accomplish nearly all of them. I did photograph a lot of snarfs, but not all of them. It just got too hot and miserable for me. I think I need to return another time in the fall or late winter to photograph the rest. And I didn't end up taking the shuttle bus tour around the grounds, either. I thought about it, but in the end it was walkable enough that I didn't need to. Even though now I'm hot and sweaty and dead on my feet from so much walking.
Goal #1: GO. I woke up in the morning and felt so miserable. Huge headache. But I kept putting this off and so I just made myself go. I've not gone in the past because I was nervous about going to a new place where I don't know where things are, etc. Yesterday I downloaded the app and I've been checking out the website. So I finally just made myself go. It's a place so close to where I've lived for almost 30 years now and, yet, I've never been. And now I have!
Goal #2: Visit my great uncle's grave. I found the section easily enough, but the numbering is weird in his section and I kept walking in circles. Finally, I changed strategies and found his grave. I never knew him; he died when my mom was just 8. But I'd definitely heard stories. A week or so ago, I went through a box of things of his with my mother, including photos, medals, patches, and the flag from his burial. There were also some really great articles someone had clipped about him from local papers about some of the things he did, including mailing part of a plane that was shot down home to his mother! I brought him flowers and one of the buttons from his uniform, but they frown on leaving anything but flowers, so I brought the button back home again afterward so the part service doesn't have to throw it away. I really liked the section where he's buried. It's near the front, but not that near. It's quiet and there's lots of shade. There are also some non-standard graves there as well, which made it feel more like the cemeteries I'm used to. But it felt good to pay my respects to a member of my family who served his country with honor. I don't know when the last time someone visited him was. So I'm glad I could do that.
( More photos )Goal #3: Visit Grace Hopper's graveI found her grave with no problem, thanks to the ANC app's directions. I was so glad to be able to leave a flower at her grave site, as a thank you for being one of my role models as a woman in computing. (That term "computer bug?" Yeah, that was all Grace Hopper, but she made a lot of other contributions to the field of computing as well). There aren't really that many famous women in computing, but she's one of them, and I hope she will continue to inspire generations to come.
Goal #4: See the changing of the guardI got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just before noon and got to see the changing. I was actually in a pretty good spot to watch the whole ritual. I love the idea of honoring those who served, even if you can't put names to them. And I really love that it's guarded constantly in silence and with such respect. The fact that the gun is placed on the outside when walking, so the soldier can symbolically stand between an attack and the tomb to protect it is beautiful to me.
Goal #5: Place a flower on Pierre Charles L'Enfant's graveEver since I read
Grand Avenues I have had a soft spot in my heart for L'Enfant. He pretty much designed the nation's capital and then got screwed over. But, a hundred years later, his remains were moved to Arlington National Cemetery at the top of the hill in front of Arlington House so he can look over the city he designed. Upon finishing the book, I promised myself that if I ever went to Arlington National Cemetery, I would bring a flower for him. So I did. His grave is behind a fence, so I hesitated there for a while, wondering if I should just leave the rose by the sigh. But then went up to Arlington House and asked one of the park rangers if he could put the flower on the grave. The ranger said I could do it! He undid the stanchion and let me go out to place the flower. It was really moving, standing there beside his grave, which has a map of the district on it, being able to thank him and getting to stand there for a few seconds, closer than most get to the edge of that hill where you're looking out at one of the best views of the city. Not a bad place to spend forever. So that was an emotional moment for me as well and it was so nice for the ranger to let me go out and do that for him. I'm guessing L'Enfant doesn't get a lot of visitors bringing him flowers.
And I saw a bunch of other memorials, including JFK's and the gorgeous memorial to women in the armed forces. I also just really enjoyed being surrounded by people who gave of themselves for my country. Though both my grandfathers served in WWII, no one in my immediate family is in the military, so it's not a very present part of my life or culture. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the military and appreciate those in it. And the whole cemetery has such a peaceful and respectful feel to it. It was a great experience. I just wish it hadn't been a hot summer day. There were a few times I had to remind myself to stop and drink water because my hands and arms were tingling or my head was starting to spin.
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