The Library of Congress

      Today's message is brought to you by the word "awesome"!  I got to sleep in. Awesome. I woke up to three home maintenance guys coming into the apartment.  Not so awesome.  They fixed the shower. Awesome! We didn't get lost on the metro. Awesome!!  I got free gelato with my chicken salad sandwich.  Awesome!!!  We went to the Library of Congress.  AWESOME!!!
      We had a little meeting outside the Library, and I was too cold and too excited to sit there for long.  Luckily it was a short one. Then the tour began.  We spent a few minutes outside talking about the architecture.  The whole stinking building is symbolic!  The architecture, the sculptures, the books, it all represents knowledge and wisdom.  There were like a zillion quotes, a kajillion of which were awesome.  It's crazy to think that someone (or maybe a group of people) decided what quotes to include on the ceiling, what mosaics they wanted up there, what carat of gold to use, and what statues they should have all over the place.  And THEN they had to make it.  I can't even begin to imagine how much work must have been put into making something that exquisite!  It kind of makes you think that if a group of ordinary men (and maybe women) can make something that incredible, then maybe there's hope for me and I know there's hope for my students.  I just have to help them see that hope and help them realize that that hope is obtainable through their educations.  That's their ticket into making something of their lives.
      I also went downstairs to look at the Bob Hope Exhibit, the Gershwin Brothers Exhibit, and the children's reading area. It got me to thinking about the legacy that I would leave behind and what quotes might added to the ceiling in my own exhibit.  I hope that someday, every kid I ever teach will look back and remember that I thought they were special and that they could do anything, that I believed that there was more to life that arithmetic and I knew that they could find it.
      In short, today was the first day that it really felt like I was in DC.  All the other days I felt like I was trying to find this elusive exciting place and today I found it!