Connections
Driving around Washington DC is different from driving anywhere else. Today, on the way to the airport, we were driving past one beautiful, stately building after another before it occurred to me to pay attention to the signs outside the buildings. The Embassy of Bolivia, the Embassy of Brazil… well, no wonder. We drove along the Potomac and saw one monument after another, Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, some of them close up, some in the distance. I could see the dome of the Capitol building, far away, and also Robert E Lee's mansion.
Suddenly, sharp memories of the first trip I ever took to Washington DC began to overwhelm me. I came with my mother. It may have been the first time I ever stayed in a hotel. It was a trip I won, by spelling; I was 12 years old, and I'd come to Washington to compete in the National Spelling Bee.
The next year, when I came to compete in the bee for the second time, my entire family came along. I didn't do particularly well in the bee (eithe…
Suddenly, sharp memories of the first trip I ever took to Washington DC began to overwhelm me. I came with my mother. It may have been the first time I ever stayed in a hotel. It was a trip I won, by spelling; I was 12 years old, and I'd come to Washington to compete in the National Spelling Bee.
The next year, when I came to compete in the bee for the second time, my entire family came along. I didn't do particularly well in the bee (eithe…
