Ilivethebeat

Today I went down to the National Mall to take some pictures of an Obama rally. The walk was supposed to start at noon but I arrived about two hours late. I got off at Metro Center walked to the camera store and bought some extra film then took the long walk all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial. It was sweltering today. I started sweating within 10 minutes of just walking outside. I considered it to be classic DC weather. Ever since I could remember, every time I would come down to the mall, the sun would be high in the sky burning everything insight. It would always be accompanied by humidity that just clung onto your skin and made your clothes wet with sweat. Today was certainly one of those days, but it had been awhile since I had gone to DC just to see the sites.

I made it to the Lincoln Memorial and found a very weak rally. I realize I was a good two and half hours late, but I had been to other political rallies before that had alot more energy to them. I was met with a nice small stage full with Gospel singers clapping and chanting. It was nice excpet that there were barely any people. The only people there were tourists who stood around taking pictures and talking among themselves wondering what the celebration was all about. I arrived hoping to capture plenty of great shots, but there wasn’t anything that was really catching my attention. I had walked for a good hour and decided to get out of the heat alittle bit and take refuge over on top the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I sat down and just did some good people watching.

As I sat I looked on at the whole scene, it was a picture perfect setting. The George Washington Memorial stood prominently before me, with its reflection angling off to the side in the reflective pool. The Capitol could be seen resting right behind it. I was tempted to just start snapping pictures but it just didn’t inspire me enough. I was using black and white film and I knew that the picture would come out looking alot different if I could use color. I started thinking about how symbolic those monuments were standing before me and how it single handedly represents the area in which I live in.

I grew up just across the bridge in the small city of Alexandria. I was lucky that I grew up in the best part of town which is Old Town, a small historic colonial settlement right off of the Potomac River. I would go there often as a kid just to look at the water and off ahead in the distant, I could always see the city glowing, calling me. In my mid teenage years I would often run away to Old Town and just sleep on the benches by the river (ususally during the summer when its warm enough to stay outside). Back in those days I hated my neighborhood. I hated boring, plain old Northern Virginia and its people. And although I had been exposed to the streets of DC I never looked at the city as a place of opportunity. To me this place just didn’t feel like home. Old Town was a place where I felt secure. Maybe it was because my mother would take me there from a very young age and get me ice cream and walk with me around the boardwalk. She would take me there when I felt restless and bored, and I was always satisfied when I got there.

These memories flooded my mind today sitting at the Lincoln Memorial. I thought how amazing this place was. I was sitting right where Martin Luther King held his speech. At the place where thousands of people have gathered in monumental, historic moments of American history. I felt proud today that I stuck around living here, because I have always felt odd here. I have always felt isolated and different, just so different. My parents were immigrants and they came just over 20yrs ago. I always wonder what it was that brought them here, to DC. They could have settled anywhere else in the US, but they came here.

I left laughing at all the tourists. Walking by the Vietnam Memorial I saw a young lady getting her picture taken in front of one of the memorial’s walls. I found it strange that someone would take their picture alongside the names of hundreds of dead soldiers. I thought how tragic that was. I wondered how America has soldiers now and what kind of memorial they will recieve for their duty, as I am sure they will. Is it just me or does it seem that America goes to war just to make memorials? I caught some French and Japanese tourists filming the squirrels hopping around the lawns and I couldn’t help but laugh. They were so amused by the little animals and I realized that they were more interesting to the tourists then the wall upon wall of dead soldier’s names.

I arrived home at King St. Metro happy to finally come home to my own little piece of the world. To me the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, and the cobbled streets of Old Town are all tied in together. I feel that after all these years of wanting to run away, instead, I want to run into the streets and continue to explore. I feel like I am rediscovering my home and I am proud of it. But I am still the same strange person and the reasons for my wandering are many. I have to find a reason for coming into DC now because I lost my dog walking job. So Im thinking just to wander into DC just for the hell of it. I’m going back tomorrow.

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