Thinking back, I’m honestly surprised at how little I remember of it. It wasn’t all that long ago, was it? I remember, mostly, ornate furnishings, astounding works of art, and feeling I was wandering through a palace … which, I suppose, it is, though it rather makes us squirm to think of it that way.

The details, though, escape me, and that fact troubles me greatly.

I remember that, as lovely as the gardens were, the air still smelled like Washington DC.

I do remember that Ron and Nancy weren’t at home.

More vividly, I remember autumn of 1978, and spending several weeks with the same dear friend (before she began dating her future husband). She worked for the Treasury Department at the time, and I would ride in to D.C. with her in the mornings, and spend the days wandering the city. I’d eat lunch on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, spend entire afternoons meandering the Smithsonian (and never did see it all). After a week I was giving tourists directions and taking their pictures for them to bring home to Germany or Japan or Peoria.

Did you know there’s an Aquarium in Washington DC? Very cool.