This city...

There has always been something magical to me about Washington DC. I remember the first time I came to the nation's capital as a kid -- during the Carter administration -- and the awe that I felt when I first saw the Washington Monument. I remember taking a tour of the White House and staying at a Howard Johnson's, but really the memory of seeing this tall structure actually on the horizon, coming out of the ground, instead of on a picture or an image on the screen meant that it was real.

Nowadays, while the Monument still gets me, I would have to say that the two buildings that most touch my soul are the Capitol, and the Lincoln Memorial — each for entirely different reasons. The Capitol's architecture is amazing -- the bright white marble, the unbelievable dome, its place up on the Hill, and the reality that its primary occupants are mostly people who overestimate the connection between the number of votes that they received and their intelligence. (Sorry to disappoint, folks — I am not a huge fan of the legislative branch...)

The Lincoln Memorial though has always struck me as a temple to democracy. The way that Lincoln sits in that chair, looking over the reflecting pool, toward the Washington Monument and the Capitol, somber and assessing the work that he accomplished to save the Union. The inspiring words upon the wall, and the reality that his death did not result in a massive revolt and destruction of the dream (as Caesar's death did to Rome -- yes I think Julius would not have been the autocrat that his nephew and the 400 years that follows actually became). But it's also its columns, its incredible steps, and so many great places to go from there. To me, it remains the moral center of our American ideal in a way too few truly understand.

Today was a good day for pictures -- some of my favorites are posted on the Facebook page, and I particularly enjoyed seeing Marine One land on the front lawn of the White House with the President returning from a speech in Pennsylvania. I, of course, took some pictures tonight, but remembered how much I HATE my old tripod and why it is so damn difficult to take good photos at night. Must buy a new tripod since I cannot lug around the damn 10 lb one and the light one sucketh.

But this picture was one the first I captured this morning. I woke, and opened my curtains and realized that I had gotten the KILLA room, with a great view of the Washington Monument. And as I was taking it, I captured a bird flying and think it best captured something unexpected, something wonderful.

D300 500mm f/6.5 1/20 ISO 200