Christmastime Snapshots

Hey folks,

It's officially the Christmas season here in Washington. The past few weeks I've been putting the finishing touches on my semester here: doing some work for the Washington Center, visiting places I'd been meaning to go to, and saying goodbye to friends.

However, last Saturday we got our first snowfall here in the District. My room is next to a bay window that overlooks Arlington and I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up that morning. I hurried down to the Capitol and met my friend Brenna. We walked around and took pictures in front of the things we had walked by all semester. I really tried hard not to take for granted being able to walk in and out of the Capitol building at my leisure. It really is something. I'll never forget it.

After we got our fill of the Capitol, we walked along Pennsylvania Avenue and took in the sights and sounds. We stopped at the National Botanical Garden for a bit. We had heard that they had a special Christmas exhibit but we weren't sure exactly what it was. When we walked in, we found the main foyer decked out in Christmas decorations with famous DC buildings adorning the room, made from acorns.

They were very intricately made, right down to many small details, as you can see. Another cool touch was that they were laid out in the room, as they are in the city itself. (Supreme court north of the Capitol, Jefferson Memorial west of the Lincoln Memorial and so on...)

After our time in the NBG, we walked to National Christmas Tree behind the White House. The tree was translplanted there in 1977 and has been there ever since. Along the tree are fifty smaller tree adorned with ornaments from all fifty states. Unfortunately, we got there a little early and the tree wasn't lit yet, but it was still great to see it.

Later in the week, I got to meet Andy Card, former President Bush's Chief of Staff from 2001-2006. I had met him once before--about two years ago--when he visited Stonehill. Card has close Stonehill ties. He was a visiting professor in the mid-90's, a member of the Board of Trustees, and the Commemencement speaker in 2003 (while he was Chief of Staff).

Sidenote: another great thing about the season...Christmas parties! Free food, free drink, and the chance to meet people...it really can't get better. It seems like most days have a reception or party after work that I'm more than happy to go to. My intern budget is pretty tight, so free food is always welcome.

That's it for me tonight. Today was pretty hectic and so I'm hitting the sack relatively early. Get ready though. I have a few special posts coming up talking about a little art history within the Capitol rotunda. Stay tuned. Thanks for the checking out the Gorm-zone. Until next time, take care!