Saturday, March 20, 2010

When I Lived Here

Mr. Optimistic and I both grew up in homes where a vacation was a trip to the State Fair. While I learned a lot about Midwestern culture, I was always a little jealous of my friend's Yellowstone and Florida stories. Thus, before Mr. Optimistic and I were engaged I made him promise me two non-cattle related vacations a year. Nothing personal, cows. While I felt a bit high maintenance at the time, I knew I wanted to see and understand things beyond a cattle show. Blasphemy?

So after calving and sale season and before burning and breeding season we took a quick spring break trip to Washington, D.C.



In college, I interned with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Public Policy Office in D.C. I loved the excitement of politics and the opportunities of the city. After a fast ten weeks, I was certain I would return and live out my days as a lobbyist. That didn't exactly happen. By exactly I mean at all. Somewhere between the summer of my junior year and graduation I fell in love with a few things outside of the Beltway. Namely Mr. Optimistic, Kansas, and regularly seeing actual cows.

To say that I've glamorized D.C. in the past seven years would be an understatement. I've missed everything from my morning walk past the White House to the bagels at Au Bon Pain. Finally, last week it was time to satisfy my craving for museums, monuments, and spooning strangers on the Metro.

I generally try to keep passing strangers out of my
pictures but this girl is a definite exception.


By the last day of our trip I'd eaten my weight in crab cakes and walked the length of a couple marathons. Vowing to buy more comfortable shoes. I'd cozied up to new friends on the Metro, gotten my museum fix, and thoroughly annoyed Mr. O with my "When I lived here..." stories.

Surprisingly though I was done. I wondered how my 20-year-old self didn't notice the noise, the crowds and the near-death cab experiences. Perhaps I'm getting old or perhaps the best kind of vacation is the one where you realize how great your home is.

2 comments:

  1. I got to spend 45 minutes in D.C. last summer. It was pretty much a drive by. I want to go back so badly. I never knew that you did an internship there.

    www.cdycattle.blogspot.com

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  2. Great pictures...great post:) Look at you guys...world travelers:) Hope we see you all soon!

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