From military memorials to Natural History

I woke up at 6:30 AM after a good night's sleep, and very ready for coffee. Lois and I breakfasted in our room, then walked downstairs to meet several classmates at 8 AM and prepared to see as much as possible on our day off. Among the party of sightseers were: Lois and I, Julie, Dan, David, Thisj, Brandon, Steve, and Jennifer. We took the Red Line to the Metro station and exchanged for the Blue Line, then got off at Arlington. We decided to spring for a $7 bus ticket which allowed us to get off at the Kennedy graves, Tomb of the Unknowns, and Arlington House. We stayed for the changing of the guard at the Tomb, which was most moving, then got back to the bus stop just in time to see it take off, so we waited in the cold for an extra 20 plus minutes, which allowed us time to see the Challenger memorial, the mast of the Maine, etc.

Arlington house is certainly one of the most beautiful houses around, though much in need of renovation, which is slowly occurring. All the furniture and paintings are out, sadly, though the view is still well worth a visit.

At the end of our tour, we put on our walkin' shoes in earnest and walked across the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, then toured the Vietnam, Korean, and World War II memorials. By the time we got to the Washington Monument, several people were asking about lunch with more than passing interest, so Jennifer led us to the Museum of Natural History, and we fought our way through the crowded and chaotic lines (the credit card readers were down) and had expensive, but edible cafeteria food. After lunch (we saw Orv coming in as we were going out) we scattered to the four winds.

Julie and I spent much of the remainder of the afternoon in the Museum of Natural History, slowly going through the Mammal, Dinosaur, African, and Gem exhibits (yes, we saw the Hope Diamond. Yes, it's pretty incredible) and as we walked out the the latter, found Sarah hanging onto the the rails looking pretty darned beat: she'd arrived in the city at 2 PM after nearly 24 hours awake.

She declared that she required a keeper and had called David, so we agreed to babysit her until David came; he called later from just outside the doors, because they wouldn't let him bring his coffee in. We met him outside and tried to figure out an action plan for the remainder of the hour and change until our previously agreed-upon rendesvous at 5:30.  Fortunately, it was late enough in the day that we got right into the Hall of Records, got through security and walked straight up to the rotunda where the  Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are displayed. These three key documents are the cornerstone of our democracy and the very foundation of our nation. Faded and faint as they are, few who see them can feel unmoved by all that they represent.

Still with boodles of time, I started calling members of our party to see where they were in our sightseeing, then we spotted Steve slowly not-quite-limping up Constitution Avenue, so I jaywalked and ran to catch him.  Back behind the Natural History Museum, I raised Branden who instructed me to look up when I asked his location: there he was waving from the second floor stairwell. I reached Lois and found that she and Jennifer D. were still at the Museum of the American Indian, so once Branden hit the gift shop, we started back to the metro.

The hard part came at Dupont Circle, where some fiend had disabled the up escalator (it's a LONG LONG way to the top) and crowds of people had to make the climb. I finally gave up about 2/3 of the way, caught my breath, and made it to the top wishing heartily for a drink.

A good day, clear and cold, and well-spent indeed. Now for dinner and a good rest for the week ahead.

From west to east

Morning did come early, too early, for I woke up several times during the night. Could be the coffee I downed yesterday evening at 6 PM as I followed the anti-jet-lag diet, could be because I was keyed up about the trip. Rhonda and I dressed hurriedly and went downstairs to catch the airporter. Most of us decided to forgo the not-so-free breakfast bar, which wouldn't be ready until we'd gone. The fellow shepherding things wanted to charge $2 for a yogurt, and I decided to take my chances at the airport.

I checked in online yesterday, so check in was a breeze, and just before seven, we were all aboard a packed plane heading for Minneapolis. I had as seatmates two gentlemen who flew planes for the National Guard, and they were entertaining. We touched down early in the Twin Cities, early enough to grab a slice of pizza before our next connection to Baltimore. While we were sitting at the gate I exchanged a few pleasantries with a woman about my age, then happened to read her boarding pass, which bore the same surname as the president of Ag Foresty. When I inquired, I learned that she was his sister-in-law! She had ascertained we were all from Washington, but was tickled to find out we were all Ag-Foresters. Who'd have thunk? I told her to let Dave know that we were all behaving.

I had a very nice seat-mate indeed, a young woman who lives in a remote part of Idaho, so we talked about my natal state, rural medicine and education for the whole flight. We landed about 5 PM in Baltimore and collected all our bags, then caught a shuttle express to our hotel in DuPont circle.

The Carlyle Suites are very cool, an Art Deco hotel within easy walking distance of several shops and restaurants. We found a Korean restaurant after throwing our things in our rooms, and had some great meals.

Finally, the Seattle contingent arrived, and we all got our allowance and agendas from Ellen, who gave us a neighbourhood walking tour. After scoping out the location of the metro, most went off to a Chinese restaurant and Stephanie and I gathered some supplies at the local Safeway.

Tomorrow is our free day, so we hope to make the most of it and see as much as we can.

The journey to Washington

Grant very kindly picked me up and we drove over Highway 2 bound for Spokane, where Stephanie had arranged several rooms for the eight of us at the Hilton Gardens. When we arrived, Matt was already there and eager for a meal, so we sauntered over to the Prospector and ordered a few items that weren't too much to consume.

Rhonda and Clay showed up after an hour or so, so we downed a couple of beers, then called it a night, for morning would come early.

Brief Pre-Olympia Updates

T'was the night before another snowy drive over the passes, and having packed up everything, synced and charged the laptop, I'm ready for the upcoming seminar on State government.

I'll be introducing a panel discussion Friday, so contacted the two legislators and senators to verify their bios, then drafted their introductions. Check and doublecheck.

I've also made appointments for my fellow 12th district classmates and myself to visit Senator Linda (Class 2) and Representatives Mike and Cary. I know them all reasonably well; for some others, it'll be a first meeting.

I've also met most of our congressional representatives, and have been trading e-mails with Congressman Doc Hasting's appointment secretary for the 12 of us who live in the fourth district to visit when we're in Washington DC next month. I've met Senator Maria Cantwell recently, so if Senator Patty Murray comes to the congressional breakfast, I'll have met them all.

As a last bit of business, I've drafted letterhead for my class (and darned near forgot about it until David mentioned it in an e-mail) so finished up some of the remaining formatting and shipped it off to the class. We've got a full agenda for our class meeting Friday afternoon, so perhaps this will save a minute or two.

Keeping my fingers crossed for an uneventful drive to Olympia. At this time of year, that's a long-shot!

Answering the "Why?"

I've spent some time regurgitating what we all did at the Social Issues seminar, and if you're bothering to read this journal, you may be wondering why a program sponsored by, and largely directed towards professionals in, Agriculture and Forestry would bother with such a topic, placed directly after our three skill-building sessions.

Here in the 12th district, one of our three representatives, Senator Linda Evans Parlette, is a graduate of the Ag-Forestry leadership program, and two of our Chelan County commissoners, Keith Goehner and Ron Walter, are also graduates.

Of the $60.0 billion Washington state budget, human services represents about 36% of the total, or $22.1 billion dollars. These funds are spent on medical, public assistance, long-term care and prisons, and one in five people in our state receive some sort of service (for a more comprehensive overview of our budget, check out this publication).

For this comprehensive and wonderful leadership program to be ultimately effective, it's essential to understand what needs our legislators must weigh in deciding where funds are allocated.

Wrapping it Up

I need my sleep, so why is it that I wake up at 5:30?! There must be a subconscious anticipation needling my brain. I dressed, waited for Lois to shower, then packed up and headed downstairs. Lois reported a fight out in the parking lot, and Orv apparently had a break-in attempt on his truck. Ah, the joys of Pierce county...

Clay was looking for a lift, so I promised him smooth sailing (my reputation was well known from Spokane) and we had a quiet drive over to PLU. Ellen was feeling stress from several sources: the excellent Sean has resigned from the Foundation to accept another position, which will make our relatively flawless seminars potentially rocky. I didn't add to her serenity when my briefcase slopped coffee over the Olympia shuttle brochures. Some mornings things start in the basement and head downhill!

Dr Russell led us through reflections on yesterday's site visits, and everyone was enthusiastic about the agencies they visited and found revelations to share.

Emergency Food Network

After a break, David Ottey gave a spirited presentation on the Emergency Food Network, which serves over 140,000 hungry people in Pierce County. Not only do they distribute an enormous amount of corporate-donated food (and he gave Matt and the Potato Commission a plug), a donor gave them eight acres of land to grow fresh produce, which must be a welcome addition to a diet of largely processed foods. Called Mother Earth Farm and worked by volunteers and women from Purdy Corrections, the farm delivers 125,000 pounds of produce each growing season.

After David's presentation, Julie gave her second five-minute speech (I critiqued), then Thisj gave his. We spent some time as a class discussing possible locations for our international trip (it could well be in China or Southeast Asia) and during lunch we ranked our choices, in an exercise that looked a lot like cat-herding.

In two weeks, we meet again in Olympia for the State Government session. The year is going fast, and it's barely begun!

Social Services in Pierce County

Morning Session—Scandinavian Cultural Center, PLU

We returned to PLU Thursday morning and kicked off the day (feeling comfy in jeans) with Dr Kathy Russell, Asst. Professor and director of Social Work. Kathy is championing initiatives to address the needs of children of incarcerated parents, a heretofore invisible category in the state. Often when parents are imprisoned, they are reluctant to disclose the existence of the  children in fear of their being permanently denied custody, however, the children themselves are often forced to "couch surf" with a variety of relatives seldom, if ever, visit their parents in prison, and generally have little knowledge of, or access to, needed services. Here are some quick statistics from the Department of Justice on the subject.

Lunch Session—Catholic Community Services

We grabbed brown bag lunches and carpooled (thanks to Dan, in the same group as our breakout session) to Catholic Community Services to endure a relatively uninspiring panel discussion which touched on the issue of mental illness, but was largely taken up with the complexities of funding. It was entirely missable, especially given the lost opportunity to interact with diners at the Hospitality Kitchen.

Afternoon Session—Hospitality Kitchen

Jim Anderson, director of the Hospitality Kitchen, led us downstairs to tour the facilities and storeroom, sadly emptied of diners, though we had a good visit with Wes, one of the dedicated workers. We then we sat down with him to talk about issues relating to homelessness for about 1½ hours, and easily could have talked for much longer.

I worked at St Francis' kitchen in Portland many years ago now, and  found the experience to be extremely rewarding, for everyone treated the guests with respect, and it certainly appears to be the case here as well. Jim was endlessly informative, particularly as we delved into the relationship of substance abuse and mental illness on the homeless population. Many assume that people who are homeless ought to be able to get a job, however, Jim soon showed us that some are either so severely abused as children or so mentally incapacitated that the simplest tasks are beyond them.

Jim illustrated the issue for us in simple, yet dramatic fashion: "Imagine," he said, "that you walk out the door without your cell phone, without your keys or anything that goes to them, without your wallet—essentially, with only the clothes on your back. What do you do?" Jennifer considered this and concluded that if she were a homeless woman with children, she would do anything to ensure that they received food and shelter.

Evening Socials

By mid-afternoon we wrapped up, and I found myself in the usual state of mental exhaustion, but we had to shift gears, change clothes, and go meet local Ag Forestry grads at a reception on the upper floors of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Tacoma. The contrast from our various afternoon visits was not lost on many of my classmates. I had some pleasant talks with Mike (Class XXIII) and Bill (Class XXVIII) and we listened to some observations by Dr Samuel Torvend, Professor of Religion at PLU.

Afterwards, we pumped our hostess for restaurant ideas and, armed with her recommendations, headed out through the rain and eventually found Il Fiasco (and it was far from a fiasco; the name's Italian for that basket one finds on the outside of chianti bottles) on Sixth Avenue, which amazingly accomodated 15 of us for a pretty darned great dinner. I ordered limoncello and a very spicy bowl of cioppino, finishing off with a fine crême bruleé. 

Some poked their noses into a piano bar afterwards, but when I heard Grant observe that everyone within was too young for him, I knew that I was destined for bed, so ran back across the street and caught up with Dan, Rhonda and her husband to return to the hotel and rest up for the final day.