Sunday, December 2, 2018

Foggy and Silent Sunday on Capitol Hill

Sundays are usually a lot quieter than during the rest of the week in our Capitol Hill neighborhood. But today was eerily so. Maybe because the fog is very thick. The statue of freedom is almost invisible atop the dome this morning. The flags are all at half staff. The Capitol building is being prepared for the head of state funeral of President George HW Bush. The barricades are going up around the perimeter. The last funeral we attended at the Capitol rotunda was for President Ford when we first moved to DC twelve years ago. It was cold then too. We went to pay our respects in the late evening - I remember standing in a line that circled the Capitol building. As we passed by the Supreme Court and the Senate Office Buildings the streets were still empty. Then we headed towards Union Station. The large Christmas wreaths were in place at the front entrance. The large lighted Christmas tree was where it was last year and the many years before that. The train set was placed in the middle of the main lobby with little traffic around it. Somehow it just didn’t feel quite right to be celebrating. When we headed back home we kept hearing what sounded like cannon fire every once in awhile - a salute prep for the days ahead? When you live in the Capitol city you can’t avoid the news and events of the day but you can always decide which ones are worth taking note of and going to. I don’t think we will miss this one. 






















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