The birthdays of Presidents Lincoln and Washington used to be red letter days on the calendar, but for reasons I've forgotten they have been combined into one Presidents' Day, a holiday when some of us celebrate with a day off from work while the rest of us don't give a darn. I can't make fun of these two men, though, since they are true icons of this country. Every day we're reminded of them whenever we jingle the change in our pockets with Washington's visage stamped on our quarters and Lincoln's on our pennies. Almost every city has landmarks where streets, schools, or other public sites bear the name of one of them. A year ago a trip we took to the northeastern U. S. put us closer to their historical roots.
Mount Vernon stands prominent on the banks of the Potomac River and walking through his house and grounds gives a person a broader perspective on Washington's life. Visiting the Washington Monument in Washington, D. C. still remains an interesting experience for me. It stands tall, slender, and inviting in the city landscape. A popular visitor destination, we had to wait in line for a time before riding an elevator to the top. I noticed riflemen standing on the rooftops of a couple of buildings, but with increased security being the new normal, I wasn't particularly intrugued by it. When we reached the visitors' deck in the monument, I looked northward to the White House. Soon I discovered the reason for the presence of the riflemen. A flight of three helicopters approached the White House, then two of them, decoys, abruptly veered off and a third one settled on the lawn. Sure enough, after a minute or two, out steps the President and First Lady Laura. The next time I looked the riflement no longer stood on the rooftops.
A visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield took us a bit closer to the spirit of Lincoln. Here he delivered his famous Gettysburg Address, something most of us were made to memorize in grade school. After walking on this killing field, I found his words taking on greater meaning. It would be hard to stand beside those cannons on the battlefield and not feel saddened by thoughts of the huge loss of life they caused. Monuments and plaques are plentiful, and they tell a big story that one could spend a great deal of time studying. For a souvenir I bent down to pick up an acorn. I've since thought maybe the roots of those trees have been nourished by the blood spilled on that ground. I'm reminded of that every time I hold it in my hand.
