My children and their children live just outside the District of Columbia, that city of famous and infamous history.
We arrived and found parking just as the sun was setting. Signs said we were not allowed to park for more than two hours, but this was Christmas Eve and it seemed that rules had been greatly relaxed. We parked across the street from the National Museum of African American History. I have yet to visit this newer museum (opened only three years ago) because it still is extremely popular allowing entry only with pre-reserved timed passes even though it is free. It always seems to be crowded at most times! The museum remains on my bucket list. Its architecture is very dramatic and the light from the sunset through the edge of the building made for a decent photo with my point and shoot camera.
As I walked further and pulled back with the camera I was able to get the Washington Monument in the background on the hill. Due to a minor earthquake last year, the elevator has been closed off and on some days although now I think it is running on schedule and finally repaired. The Monument also requires passes that you get ahead of time! I went up to the top many years ago and the windows give a rather blurred view of the city.
On the right, as we hurried toward the Ellipse, is the Department of Commerce Building (in the photo below). Wilber Ross is the Secretary of Commerce now. He seems to be able to stay out of the news recently, unlike other Secretaries, except for the citizenship question that he wanted to add to the 2020 Census, his failure to divest himself of his assets, and the use of a personal phone for business! He has Yale and Harvard in his resume, which at least gives him some gravitas for such an important job. The man, like our President, has been married three times. He is now 82 and that might be one of the reasons he keeps such a low profile. He is worth 700 million to 2.5 billion depending on which of his paperwork you believe and he made his money by taking advantage of bankruptcies.
We hurried to the Ellipse where the grands could see the National Christmas Tree. It was pleasantly crowded with American citizens and also many people from other countries, all in excellent holiday humor. There are several miniature trains running beneath the tree and little towns along the tracks that reminded me of the neighborhood in the Mr. Rogers movie we had seen that afternoon. These were all behind a protective fence. When I looked closely I saw that people had throw money, coins and bills, over the fence onto the trains and houses and station and lawn. Much of it was foreign currency. That seemed very odd and someone in the passing crowd joked that it was for the President's defense fund. This is eternally a political city.
The sunset cooperated nicely on this Christmas Eve. I was also able to capture a murmuration of starlings (or some birds) against the pink skies!
All in all a very lovely evening!
