We welcomed it with open arms and windows.
And with a St. Patrick's day trip to Washington DC.
We visited our long-time, Californian-turned-east-coaster friends Jordan and Kristy and spent the afternoon in DC, walking along the path where pink and white blossoms lined the streets and water for miles.
Kristy & Jordan and Rene & I on our walk to the monuments...
The Jefferson Memorial... I've been before once. But this day we took the time to read the quotes inscribed on the stone walls of the interior. The words were so beautiful and rang so true.
If you've never seen them, you can read the full inscriptions here.
My favorite was this....
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free..."
There's something about hearing those words spoken by men at a time that seems so long ago. About standing on the same steps as those who read those inscriptions for the first time.
It makes me see myself as much smaller and my potential as far greater.
We can look back at history and see so much change. We see how men and women saw the injustices before them and did something to make things different. And we still see injustice now. So then what? What is stopping us from speaking out, from creating and being change? What is stopping us from paving the way for those after us just as it's been paved by those before us? Someone will.
Let it be you and me.
I'm thankful for men like Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Thankful that we can be reminded by these memorials of their lives that injustice ought not be tolerated and that individual people can make a difference.
And I'm thankful for Cherry Blossoms and sunshine.
Happy St. Patrick's Day
xo
Jess
11 comments:
I walked that same path last year with my sister in DC for the cherry blossoms that I posted on my blog (http://fabulousfashions4sensiblestyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/picture-show-washington-dc-cherry.html) and it was gorgeous!!! I too am thankful of them and sunshine! Yay! :)
I'm so glad you got to see familiar faces. The cherry blossoms are beautiful. I had planned on that being one of my next tattoos. I love them and YOU! ^_^
Those cherry blossoms are out of this world! They almost look fake :-) Thanks for sharing your take-away of the beautiful incriptions in the memorial!
BEAUTIFUL photos! The cherry blossoms are so pretty! What a wonderful day trip! DC is at the top of my vacation destination list!
You and your man are adorrrrrbale.
Hi Jess! I love love LOVE your cherry blossom photos. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog (and in turn introducing me to yours - I'm excited to keep reading!). xo
Such beautiful photographs! The cherry blossoms are stunning. They are my favorite..
Les fleurs sont magnifiques, que de belles photos qui nous plonge dans ce beau printemps ! (je viens d'hellocoton france ^^)
i love cherry blossoms, its the theme of my wedding! You know i havent actually seen them in real life! your photos are so pretty.
I am totally working through what you blogged about...challenged to be making a difference in the world- or even my word, inspired by great world-changers, just praying through what that looks like for me and how I may be challenged to move and see beyond my small world infront of me. Thanks for sharing J :)
How gorgeous. Taking a trip to DC to see the Cherry Blossom Festival has been on my Spring to-do list. I really hope I get to do it before they go away!
<3 Leney
Sorry, but the first is a Magnolia tree, not a cherry blossom.
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