Returning to the keyboard

I have missed blogging about my experiences. Cyprus was an unforgettable event in my life, but I continue to have master moments. At age 68, my view of the world is shifting. For example, after a terrific week in our nation's capital city, I am still marveling at its displays: the Lincoln and Washington monuments; the Viet Nam Memorial, the tribute to Martin Luther King and more. However, after taking in the fabulous and fairly new Marine Museum and revisiting every war the U.S. has fought through by viewing news displays at the Newseum (also fantastic), I have come away a bit disheartened. If the United States celebrates anything, it seems to be its involvement in conflicts--continuously--at home and throughout the world. Did I mention the WWII Memorial or the Korean War Memorial, or Desert Storm, or the Iranian conflicts, or the current battles in Afghanistan and Iraq? Did I retell the sadness I felt at Arlington, with row after row after row of white grave markers? Is this what we do best? Kill ourselves and others? What I would like to see in my nation's capital is an emphasis--not on the victories of war--but on the real celebration of the goodness of Americans, if it still exists. Yes, I am proud of Lincoln's bringing the country together after the greatest conflict of all--the Civil War, but what did I miss in Washington? Why did I come away defeated in my attitude toward our country's hopes and dreams? Perhaps it was because I was too close to Congress--and its total dysfunction. Perhaps I saw the vast gap between the homeless have-nots on the D.C. streets and the impressive facades of Georgetown homes. Mostly, it's because the monuments and museums in too many ways seem to emphasize "victory at all costs." My family played its part in the Vietnam War by sending two of my brothers to the middle of the conflict in the 1960s. Thank God they came home. But, so many didn't. And, today, my heart breaks for the servicemen and their families whose lives are so drastically changed by conflict. In retrospect, perhaps I should have spent more time in the gardens of D.C., or at the Wax Museum, where everything is fake, or just staring at the Potomac and imagining my own version of history. Washington, D.C. is a beautiful city, originally planned to celebrate the promise and greatness of a new country. I'm just not convinced we've been on the right path in my lifetime!