for the Journey

i took the metro to the heart of Washington, DC.  a picture on the bus made me laugh: it was meant to indicate that the fare machine no longer accepted pennies, but the image was basically a big red X through a picture of Abraham Lincoln.  whoops…

to balance things out i began at the place shown on the tails side of the penny - the Lincoln Memorial, where tourists, locals, students, and families gathered in clumps on the tall steps leading into the Greek columned temple.  i started up the imposing staircase.  i slid around a professor who was giving a lecture in Japanese and i had to weave nimbly across the steps to avoid intruding on haphazard photographs.  once i finally fought my way to the top of the tall steps (resisting the urge to have a personal “Rocky” moment) i came face to face with the man himself.

the Lincoln statue is an intimidating picture of what Honest Abe would look like if he were still alive, turned to stone, residing in Washington, and 30 feet tall.  it really is impressive.  the atrium that houses him is an area of quiet reverence, commanded by the great figure who silently watches over his people.  his words are carved on the walls around him, wise thoughts from an incredible man.  something tickled in the back of my memory…what was it that Abraham Lincoln said?

“Towering genius disdains a beaten path.”

these are words to live by.  taking my leave of the towering genius, i set out on my own path to explore the rest of Washington.

inspiration for the Journey,

-louie-

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Life, Places, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.