Capitol Lying in State

When we moved to DC fifteen years ago, one of the first lyings in state we visited at the Capitol building was Gerald Ford. We also visited George HW Bush shortly before we moved to northern Virginia. We stood in line several hours to see Supreme Court Justice Scalia at the Supreme Court building. We even saw ourselves on C Span for two of them. All of these occurred in the dead of winter. There were a few others that we witnessed as we walked by on a morning walk - like Ted Kennedy and John McCain. Yesterday was another one. We were in town getting photos for my weekly photo challenge when we came across Harry Reid’s celebration. The honor guard was bringing the casket up the steps right after we arrived at the east front of the Capitol building. It was a sparse crowd and press along with many Capitol police on foot, motorcycle and bikes. Unlike most of the others, we could at least stand half way up the drive. It was a solemn and  orchestrated occasion. There seems to be too many of them going on these days. All of us need to see a light at the end of this long tunnel. 

Supreme Court Justice Tribute

We took our usual daily walk, but this morning we went by the Supreme Court to see the activity around Justice Scalia's lying in state. The doors were not yet open to the public and the line wrapped around the street between the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Obviously there was a lot of press and cameras and spokespersons. They were interviewing people in line. We are planning to return later in the afternoon or evening to go in and pay our respects. When you live two blocks away there really is no excuse not to participate in living history. We went to President Ford's lying in state in the Capitol rotunda, and to see Senator Kennedy's funeral motorcade procession in front of the Senate chambers. It was rather damp and dreary today. I suppose that's how funerals are supposed to be? It is quite a sobering and solemn experience regardless of who it is.