We've had Natasha's sister and niece staying with us for the last few days (they'll be a couple of weeks total), so we've started up the tourist spot runs yet again. Here are a couple of videos from the recent sites:
This one is from the Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral. Yeah we've been there a billion times, but it's always nice to sit and enjoy the ambiance (read with obnoxious accent).



Here's another place we've been several times - the Air Force Memorial. It's really got one of the best views of DC from the Virginia side.



So, judging from those videos, you may have gathered that the boy pretty much runs everywhere he goes now.

This particular round of DC site hopping has an additional interesting dynamic to it. Usually when we take people to see the sites they already have a pretty good idea of the social/political/religious meaning that is attached to what we are seeing. In this case though, it's been sort of a reverse culture shock for us because not only do we have to explain where the Jefferson Memorial is, but also who Thomas Jefferson is and what all that stuff on the wall means. We're also taking pictures of supermarkets, marveling at the transparency of the tap water, and hearing things like "Cool, look at that black guy!"

All this explaining has caused me to reflect a little more than usual on how blessed we are here. Now, I'm not talking about standard of living - that we have more stuff than do those in third-world countries is really sort of a given. It's opportunity that I'm grateful for. Sure we've got our share of problems right now (and in the future). But when I look forward to the future, I still know that America will provide a good life for me and my family and I still have enough faith in this 'experiment' to put our fate in its hands. I guess in the end that's what a democratic nation is all about.