Over the next few months, they’re putting scaffolding around the Washington Monument so they can begin repairs from the 2011 earthquake.
I fully plan to track its progress because this isn’t something you get to see every day.
All posts in Night Photography
Pentagon City windows and lights.
The Gaylord has some beautiful fountains and chandeliers. This photo shows both. :)
Zoo Lights
Washington, DC
Macy’s Herald Square
New York, NY
… one of my favorite things about the holidays.
New York, NY
Happy Independence Day!
Top of the Rock
New York, NY
E 31st Street & Lexington Avenue
New York
I’ve finally made it to NYC! I am equal parts falling in love with the city and completely overwhelmed by it. My first day here I saw Central Park, some of the Upper West Side, the outside of Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building and New York Public Library… Times Square… and a lot of other stuff I can’t think of right now.
According to my pedometer, I walked over 17 miles today. I believe it. My feet are sore.
… and I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!
Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
Capitol Christmas Tree and Washington Monument
… only two days of Christmas photos left …
This year I had an incredible holiday experience – touring the White House! I can’t even describe how amazing it was. Sooner or later I’ll get around to uploading photos to my Flickr. Be on the lookout.
White House
December 2011
… 31 days of Christmas photos continues …
… 31 days of Christmas photos continues …
Gaylord National Harbor
National Harbor, MD
2010
... 31 days of Christmas posts continues …
2011 State Christmas Trees on the Ellipse
Washington, DC
… 31 days of Christmas continues …
2011 Capitol Christmas Tree
Washington, DC
… 31 days of Christmas posts continue …
Gaylord National
National Harbor, MD
… continuing my 31 days of Christmas …
State Christmas Trees at the Ellipse
Washington, DC
2011 Capitol Christmas Tree
Washington, DC
… continuing my 31 days of Christmas posts …
Pentagon City Ice Skating Rink (and tree!)
Arlington, VA
2010 National Christmas Tree
Washington, DC
… continuing my “31 Days of Christmas” posts…
Washington DC LDS Temple
Kensington, MD
… continuing my “31 Days of Christmas” posts…
Georgetown Christmas Tree
Washington, DC
… continuing my “31 days of Christmas” posts…
2011 Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Gaithersburg, MD
Glen Echo Park
Glen Echo, MD
As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its predecessors. The Memorial is located in Arlington, Virginia, on the grounds of Fort Myer near The Pentagon, at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed (known for the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for the United States Air Force Memorial Foundation.
The Honor Guard sculpture, positioned inside one of the Memorial’s inscription walls, stands 16 feet tall and consists of four eight-foot bronze figures. Two of the figures are flag bearers, one holding an eight-foot tall United States flag and the other an Air Force flag, complete with streamers. The other two figures are weapon bearers. The sculpture gives a human face to the Memorial and reminds visitors of its purpose – remembrance of the sacrifice and solace for those who remain behind.
I couldn’t resist taking this long exposure shot of Atlanta traffic in the pre-dawn hours.
Wishing a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!
The Marine Corps War Memorial also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, is a military memorial statue located near the Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, Virginia, United States. The memorial is dedicated to all personnel of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) who have died in the defense of their country since 1775. The design of the massive sculpture by Felix de Weldon was based on the iconic photo of the raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
The memorial features the following Marines and Sailor who raised the second flag over Iwo Jima: Sgt.Michael Strank, USMC; Cpl. Harlon Block, USMC; PFC. Franklin Sousley, USMC; PFC. Rene Gagnon, USMC; PFC. Ira Hayes, USMC; and PM2 John Bradley, Hospital Corpsman USN.
There are twelve hands in the memorial corresponding to the six figures depicted. A persistent rumor has attributed the existence of a thirteenth hand to the sculptor’s wish to symbolize either all the other Marines who made the flag raising possible, or the hand of God. When informed of the rumor, the original sculptor, Felix de Weldon, exclaimed, “Thirteen hands. Who needed 13 hands? Twelve were enough.”
Washington Monument
Washington, DC
The Washington Monument was built between 1848 and 1884 as a tribute to George Washington’s military leadership from 1775-1783 during the American Revolution. Its construction took place in two major phases, 1848-56, and 1876-84–a lack of funds, political turmoil, and uncertainty about the survival of the American Union caused the intermittent hiatus. Plans for a national monument began as early as 1783 when Congress proposed that an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected. Although the Monument was authorized by Congress, little action was taken, even after Major Peter Charles L’Enfant selected its site in his 1791 Federal City plan. Washington’s 1799 death rekindled public aspiration for an appropriate tribute to him, and John Marshall proposed that a special sepulcher be erected for the General within the Capitol itself. Lack of funds postponed construction, but Marshall persevered, and in 1833, he, James Madison, and others formed the Washington National Monument Society. By 1836, the society advertised for competitive architectural designs. The winning architect was Robert Mills, whose design called for a neoclassical plan which provided for a nearly-flat-topped obelisk surrounded by a circular colonnade on which would stand a statue of Washington in a chariot. Inside the colonnade, statues of thirty prominent Revolutionary War heroes would be displayed.
In an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony in 1848, the cornerstone was laid. Lack of funds and the illegal election which placed the Washington National Monument Society in the hands of the Know-Nothings, a political party, caused delay. Although the Know-Nothings returned all records to the original society in 1858, the latter could accomplish little without funding. The outbreak of Civil War of 1861 exacerbated the society’s difficulties with fund-raising efforts. When Lt.Col.Thomas L.Casey, Mills’ successor, resumed work on the project in 1876, he heavily altered the original design for the monument so that it resembled an unadorned Egyptian obelisk with a pointed pyramidion. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of the War Department was charged with completing the construction, and the monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885, and officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888.
Weighing 81,120 tons, the Washington Monument stands 555′ 5-1/8″ tall. The walls of the monument range in thickness from 15′ at the base to 18” at the upper shaft. They are composed primarily of white marble blocks from Maryland with a few from Massachusetts, underlain by Maryland blue gneiss and Maine granite. A slight color change is perceptible at the 150′ level near where construction slowed in 1854. Inserted into the interior walls are 193 memorial stones presented by individuals, societies, cities, States, and nations of the world. Attached to in independent iron framework, flights of 896 steps surround an elevator which takes visitors to the observation level, where they can gaze over the city from the monument’s pyramidion windows.
In 1996, the Washington Monument Restoration Project was kicked off with Target Stores joining the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation to help restore this national treasure. Guaranteeing $1 million, Target served as the lead sponsor working with the foundation to raise awareness and an additional $4 million in donations from corporate partners. The restoration included constructing scaffolding for the entire 555-foot, 5 1/8-inch monument; sealing 500 feet of exterior and interior stone cracks; pointing 64,000 linear feet of exterior joints; cleaning 59,000 square feet of interior wall surface; sealing eight observation windows and eight aircraft warning lights; repairing 1,000 square feet of chipped and patched stone; pointing 3,900 linear feet of interior joints; and preserving and restoring 1932 interior commemorative stones. The project was completed in 2000.
Happy 235th birthday to the US Maine Corps!
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Washington, DC
Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 – 4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).
As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states’ rights and a strictly limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a quarter-century and was the precursor of the modern-day Democratic Party. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793) and second Vice President (1797–1801).
A polymath, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
Oh yeah, it’s Halloween at my house!
Flags at the Washington Monument fly at half staff in honor of the late Senator Edward Kennedy while the Capitol looks on from a distance.
“Here in these deep city lights
Girl could get lost tonight
I’m finding every reason to be gone
Nothing here to hold on to
Could I hold you?”
~ Sara Bareilles, City Lights
