'Tis March...when the sand hill cranes flock in the Platte Valley, the geese vee south along the Missouri, baseballs return to southern diamonds, and Farm Bureau members from across the nation gather in our nation's capital.
We are part of this annual migration, one as perennial as college students on spring break. It's one last chance to meet face to face with the leaders in Washington that can affect our businesses as much as any drought, flood or plague before we dive deep into the ancient ritual of planting.
Washington, D.C. is a city we have visited in all seasons: when the National Christmas tree glows in the shadow of the Washington monument and when summer warmth lingers deep into October, but it is most memorable in spring when standing under a magnolia's translucent blossoms feels like being inside a seashell.
Or...when introducing your grandchildren to the grandeur and majesty of the monuments, architecture, and museums of their heritage, their history............
Aaron, March 2011, at the airport on his first big adventure without his mom and dad. He was seven with a window seat, a backpack and his mom's old digital camera. The Air and Space Museum was our first stop and, being a grandkid, he and his grandpa spun and pitched and rolled in any number of simulators. I took one of my favorite pictures ever of Aaron and Blake at the IMAX sporting their
3-D glasses; Aaron is in the very first stages of ooooh......aaaaaah.
So many wonders! Like the meat extravaganza of a Fogo de Chao, the view from the top of the Washington monument, Mount Vernon, a New Zealand kiwi, a ride on the Metro, and even more aircraft with Ben and Kenzie... necessitating a three hour nap to recharge... Aaron, who took so many pictures the first day of the trip that we had to clean off the camera on Blake's computer. Every one of his aircraft pictures is still in our March 2011 web album, a record of his seven year old fascination with mechanical marvels.
Lizzie, Gabe, and Abbie, traveling together in their seventh year, each picked their number one sight to see: moccasins at the Indian Museum for Lizzie, Air & Space for Gabe, and the Art Museum for Abbie. The three of them attacked the week with exuberance, imagination, and energy: bounding up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial only to stand reverently before the solemn phrases of Lincoln's great oratory, reading every word.
Every museum piqued their interest... and led to a visit to the gift shop and smashed penny machine. Every monument could be measured between finger and thumb, every water fowl needed to be named, every fountain needed to be splashed, and mirror glass demanded a selfie.
All that action was exhausting, making Grandpa an unwelcome alarm clock in the morning...
and the Capitol Visitor Center the perfect place for a quick siesta while Marco Rubio was speaking.
Our nation's capital is always changing, under construction here or restoration there. And seven year olds grow too; they learn history, grow long legs, and stand to read about museum exhibits rather than flitting from attraction to attraction like bees on flowers. Still, the photography gene is strong.... Gabe, Abbie, and Lizzie took 500 pictures between them last week on the cameras they received at Christmas....and the only reason Aaron didn't is because his mom's old cell phone took a tumble that shattered the screen in the dark at the Korean War Memorial.
Still, that didn't keep his adventurous and hungry spirit from downing a big plate of lobster with his grandpa, fuel for the miles of steps from Lafayette Park to Library of Congress, from Ford's Theater to the Smithsonian Castle, from Gershwin's piano to Jefferson's books.
Moon Gates, meteorites, and magnolias....for Aaron at 7 or Aaron at 12, Washington, D.C. was a playground of curiosities.
I always return to the National Gallery of Art when we travel to D.C., but I thought Gabe, Abbie, and Lizzie might enjoy a different museum this time around so we made the hike up to the Portrait Gallery in the old Patent Building. After all, it does have the fascinating interior courtyard with its scrim of flowing water and 394 wavy glass panels overhead. I thought we might take in a few Presidential portraits, but I was unprepared and completely blown away by the kids' knowledge, anecdotal or not, of the historical figures in the paintings and their curiosity and interest about the people they didn't recognize. James J. Audubon's self portrait (Lizzie: how did he paint himself?) Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, John Brown and U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee or Thomas Edison...famous names and well known faces, for sure, but they also recorded Harriett Beecher Stowe, John Brown, the Preamble of the Constitution on license plates and, of course, Alexander Hamilton.....
I drive the same 10 miles of curvy prairie roads every morning and night, and I have to tell myself to look at the landscape, not take it for granted, to watch for the small stuff, the seasonal changes, like the pair of quail that ducked into the brush around the cemetery this evening on my way home. For frequent travelers, I'm sure the familiar sights of Washington, D.C. can get routine at best, if not downright stale. Take my word for it: no matter how many times you visit, this city of museums and history and politics will always be new....if you see it with kids!
Joshie? Levi? Are you ready?
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