Washington DC

A few months ago, the Human Society of the United States contacted Chris and asked him to join their faith outreach group as a representative of the Mormon faith. Chris has been involved in animal welfare issues for many years and was happy to say yes. The HSUS has an annual interfaith conference in DC and flew him out for two days of discussion and speakers. I have never been to Washington DC and was excited to join him.

It is so fun to arrive to sights like this:

The next morning we started to walk the mall....

Chris forgot to open his eyes for the picutre

...and then stopped for a 'quick peek' in the Smithsonian American History Museum. Five hours later we finally emerged.

Yes, these are those ruby slippers.

This are Jim Henson's first muppets.

Julia Child's kitchen

On Saturday, after eating at Ollie's Trolly, we stumbled upon 'Occupy DC'. Actually, it was one of two such groups. One is the legit organization that pre-planned "Wall Street Uprising" months in advance. The other is a group of young radicals who think the older group are hierarchical sell-outs and won't even use bank accounts to store donations. When our friend Kate described this to us, Chris said it was the closest he ever felt to being republican.

This Samantha Bee clip will explain it all (though it's about NYC, pretty much the same thing here). The relevant part starts about one minute in.


While Chris listened to an aging liberal speaker practice 'reflective listening' with a troubled young radical, I read The Onion newspaper and spoke with a possibly homeless person who offered to 'protect me' should I need it. Funny!

On to the pro-America stuff:

This monument was actually quite moving. The quotations on the walls are powerful. Chris says "I never felt so patriotic."

On the way we stumbled upon our National Merry-Go-Round. Chris got us on the ride, just the two of us:

I am sooooo amused (it cost $7!!!!!)

He insisted: "It's what Audrey Hepburn would have done."

That evening we went to Chris's Aunt Donna's where I got to meet his cousin James and Clare and their two kids (Kora and George). It was rather nice. Sorry no pictures.

That evening we took the metro to our friends Kate and Neil's place. They took us to a vegan soul food restaurant called "Everlasting Life Cafe" It was pretty awesome. The best smoothie in the history of the world is called "Sunrise"; its active ingredients are Tahini, molasses, and spirulina.

Then we hit the mall again:

I think he looks a little grumpy. Interestingly, this was done by a Chinese artist.

This is our dear friend Kate. We had the best time at their place.

On Sunday we went to church service at the National Cathedral, whose gargoyles include Darth Vader and Homer Simpson.

The sermon by the new (female) bishop was about trusting Jesus' teaching and doing the brave thing of sticking up for the poor and supporting homosexuals. Kind of different that we're used to.

Afterwards we stopped by Clara Barton's home. She was the founder of the Red Cross in the late 1800's, but would never have been called 'nurse' since that referred to convicts and prostitutes.

So thanks to the Humane Society, thanks Mr. Smithsonian, thanks Lincoln, thanks Aunt Donna, thanks Kate and Neil, and thanks DC. And thanks to Chris for pretty much writing this post. We had a great trip.