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No Adventure

Long story short: no adventures today.

I bet you're getting tired of reading about what is either a lament of my woeful life as a student or the happy tales of someone enjoying being a student. There are so few adventures here on this adventure blog.

I started blogging over a year ago, and I think the adventure status has decreased since I returned to the states. I am going to get out more. I have to. Today the farthest trip I took was walking to the mailbox. Oh, and I drove to the grocery store.

This leads me to flashback to some of the more exciting things that happened awhile ago that I never told you about. I went to the National Book Festival on the Mall. It was pretty cool to listen to interviews and speeches by authors while browsing displays and tents. The funniest guy was the author of Marley and Me - a tale of a man and his outrageously misbehaving dog.

The coolest thing out there was definitely the Magic School Bus. The real one. OKay, I know it isn't real, but it was a real bus! I would have checked out the interior, but the line of kids was a little long. The Target dog was there, and you could take a picture with him on one of those huge chairs from the commercials (they sponsored the event). There were also a slew of characters from children's television shows.

The most educational tent I went to was sponsored by the Library of Congress. I heard a man talk about General Patton during WWII. Patton was an avid photographer and took pictures of everything from landscapes to soldiers to victims of the Holocaust. Patton's photo collections were "hidden" in the Library of Congress for years, and have recently been sorted through and turned into a book. Some of his pictures of castles and landmarks were for more than posterity. He used the pictures to decide where enemies may have hidden snipers and guns that could pick off his soldiers.

One of the interesting tidbits revealed was how photography saved his (and part of his squad's) life. He was walking towards a field and stopped to take a shot. His squad appropriately halted behind him. As he took the picture, gunfire rang out and peppered across the field not ten feet in front of him. If he hadn't stopped to take the picture, he would have been shot to death right there. (And since he helped turn the tide at the Battle of the Bulge, I'm certainly glad he stopped!)


More history ... today is Columbus Day. Many of you had off from school or work; I know my postal service member did. Anyway, many know about the 1492 journey with the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria (and that fourth ship that turned back or something?). But did you know that the second trip had 17 ships. It's true, 3 regulars and 14 caravels. Both the Nina and the Pinta were caravels.

Unfortunately for me, I did not have a true adventure today. I read my homework, cleaned the apartment, replenished the refridgerator and freezer, and corrected some papers. But instead of wallowing in the sadness that accompanies missing out on a fabulously gorgeous day because of school work, I am going to revel in the fact that today is a day labelled especially for an adventurer.

I'm really glad Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492. And again in 1493. I'm glad I live in the capitol of the place he helped to found. I'm writing about my lack of adventures because he was brave enough to set out on his. So, thanks Chris. I'm dedicating this one to you. Love always, ~Heather

Comments

Napoleon said…
So on Columbus Day I always like to wonder what our country would be like if Spain ended up being the dominant force in North America.