Skip to main content

Quest of Questions



When your kids are young they ask easy questions.  As they age their questions get harder to answer.  For our oldest son Will, it did not take long before he was asking hard questions.  Frankly, he asked questions all the time!  Why does this happen, how does that work and the summer when all he said was “WHAUUT”? I am sure I was not the model of patience with all the questions but I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to field the many questions from my bright, inquisitive first child.

Nowadays his questions are more conversations and they are even more complex and engaging.  Every time we talk now, I learn something. Will lives in the Washington, D.C. area and is the Legislative Assistant to a Member of Congress. He advises him on a variety of issues, but specializes in natural resources policy, in particular, forestry and land management.


Recently, Will and I were talking about my blog and the subject of my experiences of living in DC came up.  I lived in DC, went to college in DC and met Bill in DC.  I am a native Washingtonian.  Listening to Will’s stories of working and living in DC I was struck by the permanence of so many things in our nation’s capital intertwined with every changing political scene.  I can navigate in my mind the many streets of DC.  The buildings in DC remain the same but the players have routinely change.  One thing that hasn’t changed in DC is the importance of the written word.  Our nation was the first representative democracy to write down the rules that govern itself.  Our rules have changed and evolved but the stress has always remained on the written word.  Words in DC will forever be scrutinized.  As many have learned in the past and more will surely learn in the future, DC is a place where words will make or break you, both for the good and the bad. However in order for the written word in DC to improve it will have to be continually questioned by inquisitive people like my son, Will.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gloria

Hoy quiero escribir sobre Gloria Anzaldúa.   Un poeta, una feminista y un erudito. Hoy leí una cita de ella que nunca antes había notado escrita en una pared en mi trabajo. Esta noche encontré una poema que toca mi alma. Gloria escribió que el lenguaje es una frontera para todos. Una frontera que todos debemos cruzar para definir quiénes somos. Los libros salvaron mi cordura, el conocimiento me abrió lugares que había cerrado y me enseñó primero a sobrevivir y luego a cómo volar.

SkeeBall Anyone?

Last night Bill and I had a great time watching the Auburn Tigers move to Elite 8 status in the March Madness contest.  While watching the Auburn players effortlessly shoot  3 pointers I was reminded of years of playing SkeeBall at Rehoboth Beach, DE.  As a child, during my college days, in our dating life and as a Mom, I have always been the family reigning SkeeBall champion.  I would stand at the SkeeBall throw line and effortlessly sink one winner in after another.  Like the Tigers, the joy and elation were obvious.  Each 50 point shot gave me more inspiration and more confidence. Winning at sports games and routinely beating my brothers, Bill and my sons helped to define who I am.  I have always been an athletic person who loves a good challenge both on and off the court. Last night, the Tar Heels were outplayed by the Tigers but in the defining moment when the high scoring Auburn player Okeke was severely injured the Tar Heels remind...

Cross the Finish!

I made it.   I crossed the finish line.   I had hoped I would but always left myself the “out” if I needed. Early in the Slice of Life daily blog challenge one of my sons asked what I planned to do after the challenge was over.   Would I continue to blog? Ever since he asked that question, I have been asking myself the same.   While I was writing my blog I frequently asked myself about my “why” and my “what”.   What was the one thing from my day that was noteworthy?   Why did I feel so strongly about one emotion over another?   Why did I accept the challenge?   What was I hoping to accomplish?   Like all other races or events that I have trained for, the circling in my mind at times became overwhelming.   In my unclear moments, my why became the understanding that life is a journey worth noting and sharing. I accepted the challenge to blog daily for the same reasons I have accepted other challenges in my life.   I wanted...