This week has been a week I won't ever forget. :) I had the incredible opportunity to be around some of the most amazing people in the world. My Grandfather's 64th Fighter Interceptor Squadron had a reunion in Virginia, and my Mom and I had the pleasure of attending with my Grandfather! It was an experience I will treasure as long as I live. My Grandfather is a WWII, Korea and Vietnam War veteran. He even celebrated his 88th birthday while we were in VA. We toured around Washington D.C., went to the Air and Space Smithsonian, and were able to see the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam memorials, as well as the Air Force monument. It's almost unreal, trying to wrap your mind around the fact that your staring at these memorials with human beings who were there. Living history right in front of you. I always tell my Mom that I love elderly people; they're like a history book that you're able to have a conversation with. It's so fascinating to me, to hear their opinions, and what it was like for them because they were there. I could barely take it all in, I was practically smiling the whole trip. I thank God for moments, days and people like this.
I have a funny story about the above photo. Knowing that I was going to be in D.C., I was super stoked thinking about what type of 52 weeks photo I could take. Our group was taking a tour into D.C. to see the WWII, WWI, Vietnam, and Korea memorials, as well as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Monument. We were running a bit late, so I hurried onto the bus with my Mom and Grandfather. I turned on my camera as everyone was getting seated, and took a quick shot. I pressed the "play" button to review the photo, and my heart dropped. The screen was staring back at me with the saddest words I wanted to read: "No card in camera." Replaying the night in my head, I remembered that I had downloaded photos onto my laptop and forgotten to remove the card and place it back in my camera. I asked our guide if I had time to run back into the hotel to retrieve it, but she said I wouldn't make it back in time. I was so bummed out and kicking myself for making such a silly mistake! But then I got to thinking...maybe it wasn't so bad after all. During the tour, I wasn't stressing over trying to get the shot, and I was able to relax and just take it all in. I was able to see everything without looking at it through the eyes of a camera. God had a different plan, and I'm glad he did. Without my camera, I was able to enjoy it more. I didn't have to worry about photographing it all, because, well, I simply couldn't. It forced me to relax and just be me. No camera. No pictures. Just me. And it was nice.
Now, because I wasn't able to get the shot during the day, I had an idea for a night-shot. My mom and I drove back to the Lincoln memorial later that night. After driving around for awhile, we finally found a parking space, but it said parking was only available from 11:00p.m. -9:00a.m. We got there at 12:00 midnight. So we headed back to our hotel, and ended up getting lost on the way. It was fun though, we felt pretty adventurous despite our lack of a photo. :)
I was determined to get this shot. So, on our last day, we drove back again, and thankfully found a parking space this time. As I was walking to the monument I realized that I had left my tripod in our friends car the day before! I was stumped. How was I going to get my self-portrait if I didn't have a tripod? I wasn't about to set my camera on the floor with all those crowds. So, my mom and I stretched the self-portrait rules just a bit. I lined her up where I wanted the shot to be, and had her hold the camera at the right angle. I got my remote out to snap the shot, and, it DIDN'T WORK. For some reason, it just wouldn't take the picture. It was pretty hilarious at that time, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong! I was determined to get the shot, however. So, with my Mom as my human-tripod, I set the timer on 10 seconds, pressed the button down, and waited for it to beep. It took a couple tries, but we finally succeeded. It was a rather funny adventure, and definitely forced me to get extra creative this week. :)
(& props to you if you actually read all of that. :] it was quite a chunk of ramblings.)
^^ This is the Airforce Memorial.
The Iwo Jima memorial was one of my favorites. It was way bigger than I was expecting!
"The future is always decided by those who put their imagination to work, who challenge the unknown, and who are not afraid to risk failure."
-General Bernard A. Schriever - The father of architect of Air Force Space and Ballistic Missile Programs
[I really loved D.C. It was so beautiful, clean, and the people were all so friendly.]
until next time,
until next time,
xxoo
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