I had the privilege of traveling to Washington, DC, this week for work. It was days filled with collaboration and learning among colleagues doing the same work I do from across the country. Conferences are a time for rejuvenation, to commiserate, to rejoice, and to know none of us are alone in our mission to improve the educational experience for students. Everyday we get up knowing that making just one small step forward means we did good for the day. Along with with the presentations and being able to meet and talk with staff from the United States Education Department and Capitol Hill staffers, I was able to make new friends, catch up with people I’ve been seeing for a couple of years, and also was able to garner some documents for tasks on my list of things to do. This helps in not having to recreate the wheel each time. Thankfully I was able to also provide some people with documents and experiences to help others.
The evenings though, after checking e-mail and completing some work tasks that couldn’t wait, are usually on our own. As an introvert, these times allow me to rest and recover from the day of being “on” with my brain and with people. I do join people for dinner at least a couple of times, but for the most part I use this alone time to see the sights, read, or just relax doing nothing—I’m still a work in progress on the art of doing nothing,
Ever since the insurrection of January 6, I make it a must to go and visit the Capitol Building. I do it to try to help fad my memory of it being attacked in an effort to overthrow our free and fair elections. Not to forget the events, but to see the Capitol for what it is, a glorious work of architecture and still a symbol of democracy, at least for now.
Two of the evenings, I went to dinner with other participants and conference friends. The first evening we went to Founding Fathers before a night monument tour. Interestingly, it was a restaurant the family went to on one of our summer trips together. The food was just as delicious; on the family trip I had bought the restaurant’s cookbook which I’m now inspired to break open again. The second dinner was at an Ethiopian restaurant, Chercher. None of us had ever had Ethiopian food before, meaning we had no idea what to order. Each of us ordered based on what we thought the dish would be. Of course, we were way off base. At first we weren’t sure it was a type of food, although good, we’d try again, but then, we saw what some of the other patrons had ordered. Those dishes made more sense in our minds, so we decided we would try again, but order better.
As an extra activity, a time to get to know one another better outside of meetings, and a thank you from the organization, they sponsored a night monument tour. This was a new experience as I’ve seen the monuments several times during the day, but not after dark with them all lit up. As one might expect, the monuments are spectacular during the day, but more crowded. After dark, fewer people were around, and the monuments really stood out! The first picture above of the Washington Monument is from the night tour.
Then there are just the quirky photos of things found along while walking about. I hadn’t realized how many murals there are around DC. With my love of gardening, there are the requisite flower pictures. Sculptures abound as does interesting architecture. And course, the ones friends say must be taken. A great trip overall meaning, both my brain, and my heart are full!
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 