Category: Status

Lincoln Memorial and Mall Barriers

Lily was cracking everyone up with her “device” and saying “CHEESE!” to fellow tourists (and ducks in the Reflecting Pool)

We made it to the Lincoln Memorial as well as the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials last night for our first evening here in the D.C. area.

I was particularly struck by the number of barriers and fencing that has been “deployed” all over the National Mall (I’m guessing in preparation for the “parade” on June 14). I’m sad that even getting a glimpse of our White House is buried behind rows of police and security lines like something out of a dystopian future-movie (compared to just a decade ago).

We’re heading off to the Smithsonian Museums and then the Capitol this morning. I’m hoping that I the barriers we’ve erected don’t just strike me as something that we should strive to have no need for in our Nation’s capitol in the very near future, but something we resolve to do in our collective consciousness.

The more I read Plotinus as a 46-year-old PhD student, the more I want to focus on Plotinus and spiritual ecology (and meld in some Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Edith Stein).

Got to see the Pine Warbler that’s been hanging out around our home this morning. It’s currently my favorite bird (and the Pine Grosbeak on the cover of my current Field Notes notebook is a close representation). I’m an old man 👴.