They've all come to look for America

I'm not even sure why I was feeling cynical after yesterday's rah-rah democracy entry; but I was. I guess it was the cold weather, and the utterly wrong weather forecast combined with reading too much news. When you spend enough time with America's major dailies, even online, you often can't stop the cynicism from seeping in, not even with plastic sheeting and duct tape.

OK, I remember what set me off now that I see those words on my screen: today I read D.C.'s Emergency Preparedness Guide. Essentially the purpose of this brocure, which came complete with a note from our esteemed mayor dated in August of last year was to give a Homeland Security Approved Name or Acronym to common sense practices, like if there's been a chemical attack, better scurry to the top floor of wherever you are.

That got me rolling my eyes.

I watched only the first half of the movie. I mean, I know how it ends, plus my DVD will start up at the same place I left it when I want to watch the rest; and now I find myself wanting to see this city where I live the way people who don't live here see it.

I have never really seen Washington as a tourist, as an American. It's different when you see it as a resident, worried more about parking tickets and trash collection than monuments and the things about this country that make it what it is. These are the things that create a willingness, in some cases an eagerness to serve and protect. I am still in awe of that aspect of being American.

So when the weather warms up and the city gussies itself up for spring (if all our flowers haven't died underneath the grubby snowdrifts) I think I should take a day or so to ride around on the Tourmobile, see the sites, listen to the guide. I will read the words in marble and try to remember what they must have meant when they were first written. I will try to remember why the words of men like Lincoln and Jefferson endure to this day.

I remember something that happened shortly after I moved here, which was about the same time the Berlin Wall fell. The world climate was different then, in so many ways.

I was on the Mall headed to the National Gallery's East Wing when I was stopped by a couple of tourists. They were clearly European, but I didn't recognize the accent. The woman pointed to the Capitol and said haltingly "White House?"

I smiled and explained that this was the Capitol, that the White House was a few Metro stops away, and I pointed the visitors to the closest station.

I hope they found what they were looking for.

before - after