Thursday, July 11, 2019

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007. Mattie was five years old and was outside on our deck having a great time. Mattie loved his frog sandbox. He kept a ton of toys in it and in this particular case he was using the lid of the sandbox as a boat. Notice the fishing pole in hand! Mattie knew how to fish, as Peter taught him from a very early age. This sandbox remains outside our deck door, in the commons area. Children from all over the complex come to use the box. Many of Mattie's toys are still in there!





Quote of the day: All emotions, even those that are suppressed and unexpressed, have physical effects. Unexpressed emotions tend to stay in the body like small ticking time bombs—they are illnesses in incubation. ~ Marilyn Van M. Derbur


I am now back in Washington, DC. I spent the last three nights in Philadelphia and I am grateful that Peter has been keeping the blog going. As always, you can see he is quite eloquent and insightful! Therefore, I am glad his perspective is permanently captured in this Mattie living document!

The drive from Philly to DC took me a little more than three hours today. In reality the drive isn't difficult, until you get closer to the DC region. As soon as you hit Baltimore, you deal with traffic and aggressive drivers. I have to say that being in Philadelphia was refreshing. It is a city that has been totally revitalized. When I visited it years ago for a conference, the city was gritty. Now it is a pleasure to walk and there is a ton to see and experience. In a way, it reminds me a bit like Boston. Both wonderful and doable cities. Philly doesn't have a traffic problem, it doesn't have homelessness in all of its green spaces, and I did not see graffiti all over the place. DC..... you could learn a few things. In addition, every single person, I mean EVERYONE, was super friendly and helpful. I can assure you tourists in DC won't have the same experience. 

When I arrived in Philly on Monday afternoon, I met up with my lifetime friend, Karen. Karen and I have known each other since 6th grade. She was also my maid of honor at our wedding. It was Karen's idea to meet to celebrate our birthdays this year. 

Our first exploration on Monday was to the Museum of the American Revolution. First comment, if you want to learn American history go to Philadelphia. I think it does a better job than any current history book. You feel like you are living our Nation's history by walking the streets and touring the museums!

The Museum has a wonderful videos. We even got to see the original George Washington War Tent! 

In the exhibit entitled, A New Constellation: A Collection of Historic 13-Star Flags, we got to see 40 rare historic flags. The flags feature 32 different arrangements of 13 stars, representing the 13 colonies that declared independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. The 13-star flag became the official flag of the new nation on June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act. 

Museum presents content in a very engaging manner. Check out this circle lit up on the floor! The Museum does an incredible job walking you through the road to independence. I was under some delusion that colonists ALL wanted to revolt and become independent from British rule. That actually wasn't the case. There were colonists who were patriots and those who were loyalists. Those who were patriots (wanting independence) had to secretively craft their movement, because the threat for punishment was NOT only from the British, but it was also from fellow loyalist colonists. 

We got to stand beneath the branches and lanterns of a life-size reproduction of the Boston Liberty Tree, a large elm tree where the first stirrings of revolt were discussed and debated. Ironically we were in Philly, but they did a great job highlighting the vital role Boston played in the American Revolution!

After our Museum visit we walked to Penn's Landing, on the waterfront. In the distance is the Ben Franklin Bridge. Each day we walked 4-5 miles touring around. 

At Penn's Landing, we could look across the river and see the NJ aquarium (the building with the dome). Why did I snap this photo? Because in 2006, we took Mattie to that museum. Back then we looked across the Delaware River at Philadelphia. This time, I was looking across the river at NJ, but Mattie was not with me. 

Penn's landing features outdoor summer concerts and ice skating in the winter. In addition, there is the Independence Seaport Museum and historic warships docked to tour. 

Also at Penn's Landing is a wall filled with LOVE locks. A love lock is a padlock which sweethearts lock to a bridge, fence, gate, monument, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials, and perhaps the date, are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize unbreakable love.

This area caught my attention. It is tree lined, filled with icicle lights and hammocks. Literally people were rocking away by the waterfront. In DC, if we had the equivalent, all the hammocks would be filled with homeless people. 

Penn's Landing also has a tribute to Christopher Columbus. Around this obelisk monument, are Legos. Many children were there building together and that seemed fitting given this was a monument dedicated to a mathematician and explorer. 

A park dedicated to the Marines. 

After Penn's Landing, we continued walking and came across this beautiful 18th century garden. One of the things I loved about Philly was its use of green spaces. Spaces free to the public, in which they weren't filled with homeless tents, homeless BBQ's, and cloth lines. 

On Monday, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Talula's Garden. An absolutely charming space only about 10 minutes from our hotel. 

Karen told the restaurant that we were celebrating our birthdays. So they treated us to dessert with a candle. Our server, Emilia, snapped this photo of us.