The Other Washington Monument

Anyone who has sat on the left side of an airplane on final approach from the south into Washington DC’s Reagan National airport has seen a tower just beyond Old Town Alexandria and probably wondered, what is that?  That is the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the other Washington monument in this area.  As much an edifice to honor Freemasonry as the nation’s first President, the Memorial is an imposing structure set on hill about a mile and a half from the Potomac River and the heart of Old Town.

Since I’ve seen the Memorial many times from the plane, a visit has been on my list of things to do.  Climbing the hill on my bicycle was a challenge, but I was rewarded with a beautiful view of Alexandria and the Potomac River beyond.  The hillside below the structure contains a well cared for garden with a massive rock and gravel Masonic symbol at the center.  Entry into the Memorial is free; at least the first two floors, and inside a large bronze statue of George eyes you from the end of a large hall flanked by 40 ft. tall columns.  The sculpture depicts George wearing his Masonic apron and medallion.  Murals depicting Washington at prominent events cover the walls on either side of the hall.  The floor below contains a number of rooms with exhibits of Masonic history such as stones from the White House, tools of masons, and tributes to famous members of the brotherhood such as Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, and Harry Truman.  One room contains photos of officers of the Alexandria Lodge, dating from the present all the way back to George Washington.

The Memorial is worth a visit; it will take no more than an hour, and is very close to the King St. Metro station. If you are in good walking shape, the trek down King St to the Potomac River will offer you an abundance of pubs, open air restaurants, and shops lining the most prominent cobblestone street of Old Town Alexandria.  

Soccer Fans: EPL vs MLS

The US Major League Soccer (MLS) has come a long way since its inception 15 years ago.  It provides a league for young American talent to improve their skills while playing with and against past their prime stars from Europe and South America.  The league also has a significant number of Latin American players and Spanish speakers comprise a big part of the fan base.  While stadiums are far from filled, the MLS has carved out a niche in the US sports market and appears stable. The English Premier League (EPL) on the other hand is the most popular soccer league in the world.  Teams that are comprised of the best (and highest paid) players in the world entertain packed stadiums and English fans are incredibly loyal to their teams. 

When people compare the two leagues, quality of play is normally the topic of discussion.  The speed of play and skill level is certainly better in the EPL, but to me, the most striking difference is the behavior of the fans.  During my recent trip to London, I had the opportunity to see an EPL game live.  The match pitted West Ham, an East London club against Aston Villa from Birmingham.  West Ham’s stadium, a small, old structure tucked into a neighborhood, reminded me of Wrigley Field.  The stands were full even though both teams were near the bottom of the standings, and everyone knew their soccer and was glued to the action.  Fans applauded good passes and creative plays, part of the reason why high scores are not necessary for a game to be exciting.  There was a section of “over exuberant” fans who stood during the whole game and screamed obscenities at Aston Villa, but they were confined to one section behind the goal.  I wonder if a ticket in that section comes with a warning.

In contrast, I recently saw an MLS game between FC Dallas and DC United that was played at old RFK stadium here in Washington.  The game was pretty good and both teams had a few excellent players.  A contingent of Latino fans in one corner entertained the stadium, and mostly themselves with songs accompanied by a drum beat throughout the game.  The music and singing did add to the experience, and this is reflective of fan behavior in Central and South America.  The Latinos cared about their home team and this was evident in their songs. There were also other people like me, fans of the sport who were most interested in paying close attention to action on the field.  However a third group showed up shortly before half time.  This group of mostly twenty-somethings paid very little attention to the game, were constantly making runs to the concession stand, and treated the game like a social event. 

At the risk of sounding like a soccer snob, which I probably am, no one in England would have paid $32 to show up for half a game and then not pay attention.  I think some of baseball mentality has crept into MLS spectators.  Baseball is a slow game with interrupted action and it’s OK to miss a few outs or even an inning.  It’s like a sports soap opera where nothing changes quickly.  There’s usually a buildup to a game changing play and it doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye like it does in soccer.  Now MLS needs every paying customer that it can get so these nouveau fans are welcome.  I just wish they would take the time to learn the game and appreciate its nuances.  Watching soccer is like drinking dry red wine.  You have to acquire a taste for it, but once you do, you will appreciate and enjoy a game for the skill of the players, regardless of the number of goals scored.

Osama, Obama, and the SEALs

The death of Osama bin Laden provided a rare unifying moment among Republicans and Democrats in the fractious, partisan, political environment that we find ourselves in each day.  There’s a very small part of me that feels awkward about celebrating someone’s death, but mainly I believe that he had it coming and the world is a much better place with Osama “sleeping with the fishes” as Don Corleone would say.  The reputation of the Navy SEALs, already known as the elite among Special Forces units, has been further enhanced.  Upon reflection two weeks later, the brilliance of the operation is striking.

The SEALs obviously did a great job pulling off this very dangerous mission without losing a man.  They improvised when the helicopter went down outside the compound wall and had the presence to collect the central computer files of Al Queda after securing the house.  After hearing the initial reports of the raid I was puzzled by two things; the burial at sea and the care taken in the preparation of the body.  Why I wondered,  was this monster treated with such regard?  Now it seems like that was exactly the right thing to do. 

By following Islamic custom in preparing Osama’s body, the US sent a message to the world that we are not at war with Muslims.  We are at war with a dangerous fringe element of that faith.  I’m sure that most of the Islamic world is pleased that Osama is dead and we need the help of mainstream Muslims to defeat terrorism.  Disposing of the body at sea was also in retrospect, brilliant.  Now there is no body for any of his supporters to dig up for the purposes of proclaiming his martyrdom.  Also there is no physical evidence for any publicity hungry lawyer to use to fabricate a human rights claim against the US.  There is enough photographic, eye witness, and circumstantial evidence to prove bin Laden’s death and with his body now shark feed, he has vanished along with hopefully, his legacy.  President Obama also was right to not release the death photos to the public.  While it would have been perversely satisfying to see what kind of humor the Photoshop artists would have come up with, keeping the pictures private accelerates bin Laden’s transition to historical oblivion and shows respect to mainstream Muslims. 

The most surprising aspect of the raid is that the President approved it at all.  This was an extremely dangerous operation and any number of things could have gone terribly wrong.  We live in an age of instant global communication and the fact that someone in the Abbotbad neighborhood twittered during the event proves that outside communication was possible.  In years past, cutting the phone lines was sufficient, but no more.  The compound was a short distance from the Pakistani military academy and we gambled that if the Pakistani army heard about it, they would not be able to respond quickly enough.  Suppose we were wrong and a firefight between the SEALs and Pakistan, an ally, resulted.  How would Obama have explained that international incident?  The President, in his 60 Minutes interview last Sunday, admitted that they were only 55% certain that it was bin Laden in the compound.  It is very surprising that Obama, who is deliberate and cautious, approved the mission with those odds. 

But approve it he did and the gamble paid off.  Everyone connected with the operation from the President, the Secretary of State, the National Security staff, the military brass, and especially the SEALs deserve all the praise they have received.  This will probably be the high water mark of the Obama presidency but the approval rating bump will not carry over to the 2012 election.  Just ask George Bush Sr., who experienced a similar victory in the first Iraq war about that.  Kudos to the US for pulling off a major victory against Al Qaeda and for terminating a killer who lived too long.

Tornados and Floods

Mother Nature ravaged the South in the past two weeks with killer tornados from Mississippi to Virginia and record flooding along the Mississippi river.  The tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa, AL garnered much national attention and hit home with me as well since my son is a student at the nearby University of Alabama.  He picked a good semester to study abroad however, and was not threatened by the storm from his dorm in Scotland.  To my knowledge, none of his friends were hurt, however several trees fell on the off campus house of two of his buddies and they escaped injury by riding out the twister in a storm shelter.

Tornados are a fact of life in the Midwest and the South and many occur each year.  They usually hit farm land and lightly populated areas because most of the US land is lightly populated.  When the statistics decide that it is time for a tornado to touch down in a large town like Tuscaloosa, the destruction can be extreme.  When a tornado “watch” is announced in north Alabama it means that weather conditions are favorable for tornado formation.  We go about our normal business with maybe a heightened awareness of changing weather conditions, but without fear.  If a tornado or a funnel cloud is actually spotted, the watch becomes a warning and sirens sound which means “get to a shelter”.  Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t.  Doppler radar and other weather forecasting technology are good at locating and tracking the path of storms and we can tell from the TV news which part of the county is threatened.  We should fear the tornado warning more and always go to a shelter, but the localized nature of these storms means that most of the time, they are just close calls.

I’m sure that anyone who has lived through being in the path of one of these storms must fear them more.  Over 200 people were killed in Alabama during this latest tornado outbreak and many are still missing.  My prayers are with all those who were affected.  I’m also going to get into the basement faster the next time I hear the storm siren go off. 

The Royal Wedding

Prince William and Princess Catherine have been married for over 24 hours now and the 2 billion people around the globe who watched the wedding on TV can now return to their normal lives.  Why are we so fascinated with the British royal family?  This family, which is anachronistic in a modern western democratic country, has no real governmental authority, but is showered with riches by the British people, and is the continual focus of the British press.  Yet the British love them for they are the living symbol of their country’s history and culture.  And what a rich, old culture it is as Queen Elizabeth can trace her lineage back to the year 757 AD!  A TV commentator said the other day that the royal family is a bargain since they cost each British citizen only a pound a year.  Maybe he was right.  Having the power to attract the attention of 2 billion people is no small feat.

Recent royal marriages have not turned out well. The broken unions of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and Prince Charles/Princess Diana are the most prominent examples.  However William and Kate look like two nice, well adjusted young people and in contrast with her late mother-in-law, Kate, who has “dated” William for six years should know what she is getting herself into.  William also seems better grounded than his father.  It is commendable that he currently serves his country as a Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopter pilot.  Poor Charles, forever in the on deck circle, has waited longer to become a monarch than anyone else in history.  From the looks of his mother, he’s got a lot longer to wait.  Did you see the 85 year old queen hop up those steps at Buckingham Palace?  Her mother lived to be 101 and I wouldn’t be surprised if Elizabeth is on the throne for another two decades. 

There has been speculation in America that the queen may appoint William as the heir apparent instead of her son.  This theory is appealing because William is so much more popular than his father and the picture of King William and Queen Catherine is so much more attractive than that of King Charles and Queen Camilla!  I posed this question to our bus driver and tour guide two weeks ago while on a day trip to southeastern England out of London.  Their strong opinion was that Charles would be the next king despite the popularity of the young couple.  Traditions do not break easily in England and there is nothing more traditional than the royal family.

I admit to being one of the 2 billion who watched part of the royal wedding yesterday.  Having been in London recently and having seen the primary locations up close (pictures of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey are shown), made the event even more enjoyable.  We Americans live in a very young country and we go to places like England to experience cultures that are much older and steeped in history than our own.  The British monarchy is the embodiment of that ancient culture, and with the wedding of the future king and queen, it looks to be on solid footing.

Across the Pond

The blog has been silent for a few weeks because I just spent 12 great days vacationing in Scotland and England.  My son's decision to spend a semester studying at the University of Glasgow was the reason that my wife and I traveled "across the pond" to visit.  Our daughter also joined us and having the four of us together again on a family vacation was truly special.  We've got two grown children who actually seem to enjoy being with us so I consider that a blessing.

Four days in London were sandwiched between stays in Glasgow and the differences between Scotland and England were very apparent.  Neither country is known for its food, but London, with its many immigrants from all over the globe, has a distinct advantage.  A lamb dinner at a Lebanese restaurant near our London hotel was easily the best meal of the trip.  The Scots actually have a diet that seems to be higher in fat and contain more fried items than the American diet.  The relative lack of immigrants in Scotland also means that food choice is more limited.

But we didn't go to the UK to eat, and what Scotland lacks in cuisine, it makes up for in beautiful scenery and an interesting culture.  Edinburgh and Stirling castles are well kept artifacts of Scotland's violent past and we could picture William Wallace leading a charge on the plain below Stirling.  Loch Lomond's waters made me keep humming "You take the high road and I'll take the low road.....", and of course, we visited a whisky distillery for a "wee taste".  But the culmination of the trip occurred on the last day when my wife and I made the pilgrimmage to St. Andrews and got to walk on the hallowed fairways of the Old Course.  As a golfer, the only thing better would have been teeing it up, but that will have to wait and will be my reason to return.

London is abuzz with the royal wedding.  It was the primary news story two weeks ago and now, with the wedding three days away, things must be at a fever pitch.  More on "Wills and Kate" in a later blog. 

It was great to see my son who has embraced the Scottish culture and taken maximum advantage of his time in Europe with travel to several countries.  He's a more mature kid now than when he left in January and I really enjoyed letting him lead us around and share his experiences.  It's also a blessing to be back home in the USA and back to work and blogging.

Cherry Blossoms in Bloom

I was joined by about a million of my closest friends this weekend viewing the annual Washington DC spring ritual known as the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Every year in late March/early April, white and pink flowers come alive on thousands of cherry trees located throughout downtown.  The most famous and beautiful location is around the Tidal Basin where cherry trees ring the water and their branches form a canopy over the walkway around the perimeter. Traffic was horrendous, but riding my bicycle downtown allowed me to move quicker than the cars and to see the cherry trees along the shores of East Potomac Park as well as the famous ones at the Tidal Basin.

The original trees were a gift from the mayor of Tokyo in 1912.  Many of the tourists at the festival were Japanese, and yes, they took lots of pictures.  Walking amongst the trees this year and thinking about their history brought thoughts of the people of Japan and their struggles to contain the nuclear power plant radiation while recovering from last month’s earthquake and tsunami. 

Thomas Jefferson presides over the festival each year from his pedestal in his Monticello styled monument. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s monument, a short walk from Jefferson’s, received many more visitors than normal this weekend.  The major memorials in DC (Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, WWII, and Vietnam) are best visited during quieter times.  They all tell a powerful story and respectful quiet is appropriate.  That was of course impossible this weekend with the throngs of visitors.  So if in the future you come to DC to see the cherry blossoms, come back another time to properly experience the memorials. 

Friday was the peak day for the blooms and they will be mostly gone by next weekend. Cold, nasty weather shortened the peak blooming period this year and we had to wait until Sunday for a sunny day with temperatures above 50 deg F.  The show was worth waiting for though and my words cannot properly describe the sight, so enjoy these pictures that I took.