Visiting D.C. and College Park, MD

Hi everyone. Here it is almost November--time is flying. Last weekend we went to the D.C. area, primarily to visit the National Archives in College Park, MD, which is only a few minutes outside of metro D.C., so Ben could get some research done on his master's thesis. These archives are also known as National Archives II, with "I" being the main ones on the mall in D.C. There are some pictures at the bottom of our archives experience, but we didn't want to bore you too much with the researching stuff, so instead we're just posting some of our other pictures. We spent Sunday touring around D.C., walking along the Mall, up to the Capitol, to Union Station, and to several museums (the Holocaust Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian Castle). It was fun and a nice gettaway, despite the work that the research entailed!

This, below, is the Holocaust Museum. It was not a fun part of our trip--very hard and terrible to see and think about--but it was a good thing to visit, in our opinion. The only thing I couldn't believe was how many parents had brought their children to the museum--young children! Definitely not appropriate for kids under at least 12 or 14, and, even then, they need to be prepared ahead of time.

This is the National Gallery of Art (part of the Smithsonian)...

...where we saw paintings like these, by Monet and by an Italian Renassiance artist:





We briefly drove through Chinatown:



The Archives in College Park:

You can see below that the method of duplication we used for all the documents that Ben wanted to copy and bring home for reading and using in his thesis was a digital camera, which we put on a tripod. We both spent two days straight (about 15 hours) going through box after box of material about President Nixon and taking pictures of the relevant materials (all of which are "original" documents). We must've taken around 700 or so pictures!

California Wildfires

With Ben's parents and entire extended family, plus my friend Susan, living in Southern California, the current wildfires are quite scary. Robert and Susie have not had to work today, and they don't have to tomorrow either. Apparently they are keeping the highways as free as possible so that people can evacuate from the areas where the fires are, and so that emergency vehicles can get around quickly. So far, none of the people we know are in danger, but we are still watching this carefully and praying that the firefighters will be able to contain the fires soon. With Santa Ana winds gusting at 50 mph or more in some places, I am afraid things may get worse before they get better. Keep everyone out there in your prayers--those who are trying to get to safety, and also the firefighters who are risking their lives to put the fires out.

Here are some photos Ben's parents sent us from the deck of their home ... you can see the smoke looming over the horizon and mountains in both pictures:

More Visitors!

Yay for visitors, and especially family visitors whom we haven't seen in ages. This past weekend, we were fortunate to be able to see my Aunt Sue and Uncle Gary, who were in town from PA for a work-related conference. I hadn't seen either in awhile, especially Gary, who I last saw when I was six years old. And Ben hadn't met either of them. (He also has a very small extended family and is beginning to wonder how I can keep track of all of my relatives, especially since they're spread clear across the country from each other! I think he has given up on keeping track of them all, especially which cousins belong to which aunt and uncles.) Anyway, we went to a restaurant called the Fat Canary with them and then they came back to our place for dessert (apple scrumptious). It was a great visit, though brief.

The Sincerest Pumpkin Patch

Anyone else out there a fan of Charlie Brown & the Great Pumpkin? Ben and I love this Peanuts special, and we watch it faithfully every year around this time--undoubtedly a carryover from our childhoods, though we also find humor in the show even as adults! There are some great lines in it. Anyway, so, in the spirit of Linus and his Great Pumpkin, we went to a nearby pumpkin patch this past weekend to get our fall/Halloween pumpkins. We also found gourds. It was great fun--and didn't cost much either. Some of the pumpkins were really cute and little, some big, and lots of in-betweens. ... As Linus says, "What pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one? Nothing but sincerity as far as the eyes can see." ... (and, yes, I have my digital camera back, so these are back to top quality.)

And these (below) are the ones we came home with, and that are now sitting on our front porch:

Governor's Palace and More

Here are some photos we took this past weekend during a short trip to Colonial Williamsburg, which included a tour of the Governor's Palace and an afternoon coffee/snack at Shield's Tavern. We also ran into a young black kitty near the church, Bruton Parish, which Ben played with for awhile. He was sooo cute, and we wish we could've brought him home with us! (He had a collar, though, and we think he may have been the church cat!)

This is the back side of the Governor's Palace and some horses that are in downtown Colonial Williamsburg:

Finally, here are photos from the grounds of the Governor's Palace, including one of me in a circular opening that looks out onto a lake, and one of a bunny rabbit who was happily munching away on the grass in the vineyard (he didn't budge or even look up from his grass-eating until I was about 2 yards away!).

The Impact of Media

While Ben is studying, I'm watching a Webcast right now on Focus on the Family's Web site, http://www.family.org/, about media and its impact on the family. It's really more for parents, but even though I'm not a parent, I figure maybe it will one day be useful. They're talking about a great many things ranging from MySpace to instant-messaging to cell phones to TV, and discussing how to manage the use of technology in the home and particularly how to set boundaries for kids without being overly controlling.

It's really interesting to think about how many things that they're talking about didn't even exist a few years ago, much less when I was growing up! There is so much out there nowadays, and even while much of it is neat and intriguing and even helpful, there are many dangers and problems that come with these new kinds of technology and media. It's so important to use wise judgement as parents and adults, since our actions affect ourselves and those around us more deeply and profoundly than we often realize. As Christians, our call to a holy and pure life should be central to our own actions and should guide the choices we teach children to make, even though it's so easy to compromise God's standards nowadays and difficult to keep bad influences out.

One thing that is hitting me right now, too, is that it's so important for Ben and me to prepare now for having a family later, and to make sure we have a good, God-honoring pattern of technology and media usage now, because otherwise it will be so hard to change our pattern later. Although most wouldn't consider us media obsessed--we rarely watch TV--we definitely find ourselves on the Internet and e-mail too much at times. (Yes, this is rather ironic to be writing this on a blog!!) There is so much else to do in life, like spending time outside, making friends, and stuff like that, and it's important not to lose focus on what really matters. Technology should support what we do, but not ever rule what we do to the point that we're addicted to it.

I think that's all for now.. If you have thoughts about this subject, we'd love to hear them!

College Landing Park

These photos are some that we never posted from the summertime, but I ran across them tonight and thought they were worth putting up here. They're of a place called College Landing Park, which is located just about a mile or so from William & Mary. The park is teeming with wildlife and has become one of our favorite spots to eat lunch (when we bring our lunch and don't go home to eat, that is). Some of the animals we saw here regularly during the summer were crabs, blue and white herons, osprey, swan, geese, an eagle (rare, but can sometimes be seen perched on a treetop), and lots of birds (yellow finches, blue birds, etc.). Oh yes, and the boardwalk shown--while quite nice--also contains some lovely chiggers, which I got bitten by several times when sitting on the benches here.

Below are some of the fiddler crabs that swarm on the swampy beach areas at the park. They can be seen more during the summer when the tide is low (since the beaches are more exposed and they can run around and dig the little holes they dig, etc.). However, when the tide comes up, if you look closely, you can find a few clinging onto blades of weeds. Ever since the weather cooled, though, we really haven't seen many crabs at all here.