Why I love here.....

There is something comforting about sitting on the National Mall. I haven’t done this in a long time. Since last fall I think, but today is the perfect day for it. It is a balmy 60 degrees and at quarter to 10 in the morning no one else is here. This means that I can handle my conference call and then just sit and enjoy the atmosphere before heading out to meet Boo.

I have been here many times before but every time I come a feeling of contentment settle in my chest. I am home. It is one of the many reasons I moved here 3 years ago. Even when I talk of leaving, my heart aches at the thought of leaving this behind. I am not sure I ever could.

The tourist season that never really ends here is at it's low, it will pick up over the next few months, but for now there is only a smattering of brave souls who have dared be a tourist during an east coast winter hoping that the weather would be kind. Those lucky few have been rewarded with today. The sun is behind me slowly rising into a clear blue sky. The flags at the base of the Washington Memorial are blowing briskly in the current breeze. Spring is in the air.

Call postponed and now I can people watch before getting back on the metro. People are starting to arrive. This is the reason I like the quiet of the early morning on the mall; before anyone else thinks to be here. Now the metro belches out the masses; locals and tourists, families and couples, Singles and groups of teenagers with a free Monday.

My favorite groups to eavesdrop on are the tourists. Geez they make me laugh. So far I have heard:

“But I thought you wanted to see the museum first?
Honey they are all museums!”

“Maybe we should ask her, she looks like a local, she would know.”

“Stay together, Tyler, I SAID STOP! Stay together”

(poor 4 yr old)

“ Yoo Hoo! Yoo Hoo! Everyone over here for a picture.”

“Damn tourists.”
(That was when a family stopped right in front of a man running…he almost bowled over a little girl as the mom called for a picture…Lol!)

Okay, today cannot be wasted, with a quick call to Boo we change plans, out with the movie, in with a carousel ride on the mall! Today is going to be a good day…I can feel it.

Oh my gosh….I found the Secret Garden. Okay, maybe not in reality. There is no lock on the gate; but it is beautiful, even during the winter. While sitting on the mall someone stopped and directed me to the Enid A Haupt garden, tucked behind the castle. I assume she works for the Smithsonian because when explaining she said that Enid “was a woman who had died and left us a bunch of money so we created the garden” With flowers and trees and benches it is a small oasis. I think I have found my new home on the mall.

Alright, Boo will be here soon and I want to find a book on the Haupt Garden. It is time to log off and enjoy myself. I hope everyone else has a wonderful Presidents Day