In fourth grade, I did a report on New Hampshire. It was randomly assigned, I would not have chosen it, but I have been in love with New England ever since. Silly, maybe, since I've never been there. I have wanted to see Boston since about the same time. For sure after learning US history in 5th grade. So, since we are living a day's drive from New England, I decided it was time! A few weeks ago we loaded up the car, and ventured out, along with my parents, and my brother's family.
It was an adventure! Plenty of bumps as well as unexpected delights.
Early in the planning, we cut our New York City stop out of the plans, but as we drove from Boston to Washington, DC we decided it would be fun to drive through Manhattan. It was Sunday, so we were hoping there might be a little less traffic. But, traffic or no, we were willing to fight the madness to catch a glimpse. I was the navigator, so I pulled up the instructions on gps. I was glued to that thing, not wanting to get lost or miss a turn. And my navigation track record was not good (for some reason, you need to know the difference between left and right in order to get where you need to go. Ridiculous!), so I was trying to pay extra close attention. I had to do some fancy routing to get the gps to take me around Manhattan instead of through Newark, NJ. As we set off, I double and triple checked each instruction. As we passed the Bronx, my mom called and asked where we were going. I said we were following the instructions. When I hung up, I looked at the map again. It had rerouted me! Through New Jersey, bypassing Manhattan! So frustrating. I was so focused on each individual step, that I hadn't been taking in the route as a whole. It doesn't matter how close attention you are paying to the directions, if you're looking at the wrong ones. I feel like that is a type for how my life goes. I get so focused on the minutiae of every day that I don't pay attention to my trajectory. And sometimes, I make one little decision after another that slowly and surely takes me off my course. It takes a wake up call, and a look at the big picture to make a course correction. In my case on our New York drive, it was too late for a course correction. Hopefully, it doesn't get there in my life. This trip, and even more, looking back on it as I have typed this blog and posted these pictures, has been a big picture moment. I am grateful for big picture moments that help me check in and make sure I am still on the right path. I want to see Manhattan, not Newark.
Here are a million and a half pictures of our trip (don't ask me how I posted a half picture).
Cape Cod
Washington DC
Philedelphia
Valley Forge
Gettysburg
Back to DC and the Smithsonians
Palmyra, New York
Boston
My memories from the trip were the unexpected treasures. The woman playing the instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin. The pews in North Church (how awesome would it be to be able to usher my kids into a box and lock the door for all of the meeting!). The moving art display made from dog tags (one for each soldier killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars). The playground by the marina. Valley Forge. It's always surprising to me how peaceful old battlefields are. Not just quiet, full of peace. There's a sanctifying power in sacrifice. Sacrifice makes sacred ground.
