National Native American Veterans Memorial

It was on our usual weekly drive in to town that we stumbled across a new memorial. I knew it was being constructed because we couldn’t take the usual path by the Smithsonian American Indian Museum as it was blocked off over the last several months. But this time, on a very windy morning, we found that the Native American Veterans Memorial was almost complete. There were a few workmen working on the last finishing touches - putting in the five insignias of the armed services. Where there was a pond on the east side, a walking path bridge now takes you across it to a platform where the memorial rests. You’d never know you were right across from the Capitol building. A sign describes the five concepts that are important to native cultures - water, fire, earth, air, and the circle - an opening to the sky and the spiritual world. One can tie prayer cloths to the lances posted around the site. The museum itself is distinctly different from DC buildings. Viewing it through the circle made it even more distinctive. The city is still very desolate except for building renovations and street repairs. At least it gives us something to do since we can’t attend any programs and everything remains closed. So we park the car in our old neighborhood and check out what has changed since we left a year and a half ago. It’s a nice change of scenery. 

52 Frames - A Commitment to Photography

I was always in a hurry to get photos from the drugstore or photo store. Taking pictures was fun. When the swinger instant camera came out it was immediate gratification. I always had some kind of camera - Canon, Sony... but when the iPhone came out it couldn’t have been better! I do a daily photoblog and participate in a lot of social media. So when a friend of ours mentioned 52 Frames, I was interested. The idea is to get you to take a photo of a defined subject matter every week, give it a title why it inspired you. I signed up yesterday and just so happened to have a photo (that has to be taken in the week - not an archive) that would meet the requirement for this week - circles. We took a ride to DC yesterday and walked to the American Indian museum and saw the new Veterans Memorial where a large ring, representing the sky, was recently constructed. So that photo was submitted and the rest of the information for my “site” was completed including a short bio, type of camera used, link to my Twitter and Instagram sites, etc. I also started to follow our friend’s site and am looking forward to any comments and feedback - which is the idea. One needs to make comments and provide feedback, submit a photo every week, and be consistent as much as possible. Anyone can join, but you need to be committed. They also have Facebook and Instagram sites to follow. So we will see how this goes. I don’t have a fancy camera and may not be able to comply with some of the weekly requirements, but there may be workarounds. This “hobby” goes along with my digitalart painting. It’s just another way to be creative. And at this time, it’s a great way to spend time.