Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.
John F. Kennedy

Far from the Midwest I was able to savor this moment in Georgetown last week as the sun set on the campus, reminiscent of a much older and graceful time. The silhouetted building on the left is a portion of historic Healy Hall. Seeing a contrail kept me grounded in the 21st Century for sure.

See more beautiful sky views at Skywatch Friday.

red in my neighborhood

Erica and a bit of her red [favorite color] umbrella as she walks the red brick sidewalks in Georgetown.

Bright reds of Impatiens gracefully circling this lovely front porch in a St. Paul neighborhood--note the tree is full of deep red crab apples too. A timely reminder from another neighborhood, in red and turquoise. To my eyes it doesn't get any better than that.

Celebrate Tuesday by visiting Mary's cheerful meme Ruby Tuesday.

Y

what's a mom to do?

[Erica on left]

Last night five students from Georgetown Medical School had been selected to participate in a special taping at the White House of an ABC News t.v. program–Primetime’s “Questions for the President: Prescription for America.” Our Erica was one of the five. Here's the question she posed:

I am interested in providing medical care to all patients in need regardless of their ability to pay, but I will graduate medical school next year with over $200,000 in loans and I worry about how I will fulfill my professional and personal goals as well as meet my financial obligations. How do you plan to extend quality medical coverage to the growing number of un- or under-insured Americans while protecting health care provider compensation in light of the soaring cost of tuition? I come from working class roots in Idaho, and getting to (and through!) medical school has been both a personal and financial struggle for me. I have a congenital heart condition for which I underwent open heart surgery in the year I started medical school. Although I have always been insured, the uncovered portion of the medical expenses has always been burdensome for me, especially as a student living on loans without parental support. I forgo regular follow-up examinations, and have in the past chosen between getting an echocardiogram and buying books. Despite the hardships I have experienced related to the high cost of healthcare, I am fortunate to even have a degree of insurance. Many people close to me, particularly younger friends and family, have no coverage at all. This means that they do not receive regular life-saving screenings or preventive health care measures, and are one medical emergency away from financial collapse. The problem extends beyond my immediate circle, and requires urgent action by those in healthcare and the government. Throughout my career I hope to contribute to the extension of quality healthcare to all in need.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to ask President Obama during the program...let's just say it was a very media-oriented agenda designed for Diane Sawyer & Charlie Gibson to pimp the President using the most general issues in the shortest amount of time with way too many commercials. You can read all the students' questions concerning health care reform in a letter written by the School of Medicine's class president and later given to Obama here.

[Erica second on left]

To say Dave and I were ecstatically proud of her would be an understatement. She was excited to be in the White House, meet the President and since she is committed to health care change we were glad she was able to participate.

Spring Break--part two

Rainy last day in D.C. and some doors in Georgetown. . . Erica and I visited the National Cathedral and spent the rainy afternoon in Georgetown. We ate soup and lemon Madeleines at one of Erica's favorite restaurants here aptly called le Madeleine. We got out of the rain, dried off and did a bit of people watching as well.


A few trees were in bloom on the Cathedral grounds: small magnolia, flowering crab and one or two early cherry trees. We visited the herb garden and greenhouse. Also there was a small thrift shop run by the Episcopal parish where I found a beautiful vintage Vera scarf and, of course, books.



Earlier in the week the three of us visited on the Mall at the new National Museum of the American Indian and the Hirshhorn Museum. I was particularly interested in the exhibit of handmade women's dresses called Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses. It was an amazing collection that included very old and very new designs with most Nations represented, including the Shoshone-Bannock tribe from my part of Idaho.
Inside the Museum I caught the prism reflection from the rotunda's stained glass.


Facing the mall, there is a 'natural' waterfall that comes out of the Museum. In the distance in the taller tree you can see the Washington Monument in the distance.

So we were waiting in lines for our lunch in the restaurant within the museum that is laid out geographically to highlight different food by regions of the Americas. I passed up the frog legs but had wild rice & watercress salad from the great lakes Objibwa's; fry bread from the plains and west, and a black bean tamale from the south. At the register the check out person kept fiddling with her machine and it kept spitting out something that wasn't right. As the line behind me got longer, I told her it would be o.k. as it was and she said, 'I just want to make sure you get your discount.' The discount exists for members of the museum and for Native Americans. She didn't ask me if I had a membership and it occurred to me later that she though I was, in fact, an American Indian. . .because I have always resembled one. This all made me smile from ear to ear.

While Audrey was in the Hirshhorn book store I walked around the extensive sculpture garden that runs in a circle around the building. I was smitten by these bronze sculptures by



Juan Muñoz part of a series called Last Conversation Piece 1994-5. My kind of guys--tough yet light on their feet!

Washington, D.C., a city of questions and reminders . . .

Split by a tendril of revolt

stone cedes to blossom everywhere.
Muriel Rukeyser

and where Erica works and plays hard. Always willing to take life at its word, she will be in the Georgetown Medicine Class of 2010!