who else knew Steve Irwin died last Monday?
I didn't until I read this week's PostSecret. Huh. I always found him sort of annoying. He's about the seventeenth person in the world to die of a stingray puncture. File that under the 50 most ironic deaths in history.
I went to Arlington Cemetrery today. I was downtown after church, and I just didn't feel like going home. I had nothing to do for the rest of the day, so I stayed on the metro past the Rosslyn stop and got off at Arlington Cemetery. It was a great day to visit. The sky was clear, no clouds, though it was pretty warm. I got a ticket for a shuttle tour. I visited the Kennedys' gravesites, cried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers during the changing of the guard, walked through Arlington House. I saw the section of Justice gravesites, where Blackmun, Holmes, Weeks, Marshall, Rehnquist, and more were laid to rest. Justices are offered the choice to be interred at Arlington, though predictions are that the cemetery will reach capacity in 2060. So, if I want to be buried in Arlington Cemetery, I've got to be appointed as a Justice and die before I'm 75.
I've had some brief recurring thoughts of joining the USO. I have such conflicting feelings about our armed forces. On the one hand, I'm a total dove. I don't believe in killing, state-sanctioned or otherwise. Any type of forcible death does not sit well with me. But on the other, I admire those men and women who pledge their lives to the defense of our great nation. As much as I like to complain about my country, and point out all the things I think are wrong about it, I really do love it, especially the part where I'm allowed to complain about it without being arrested (yea for the overturning of the Alien and Sedition Act).
Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of the WTC attacks. There's a Freedom Walk downtown tonight, and there's one in Chicago; there's probably one in all the big cities. There are great big flags hanging from all of the big office buildings in Rosslyn. I wish our country could revisit the unity and cohesion we felt right after the attacks. I miss the way everyone flew American flags from every possible point, "God Bless America" bumper stickers abounded, memorials and shrines for strangers were erected. I miss that feeling of comradery. How long did it last? A month? A few weeks? And then we went back to the usual distance, usual way of dealing with each other. I wish we could go back to a time where hope and love permeated, not fear and cynicism.
I went to Arlington Cemetrery today. I was downtown after church, and I just didn't feel like going home. I had nothing to do for the rest of the day, so I stayed on the metro past the Rosslyn stop and got off at Arlington Cemetery. It was a great day to visit. The sky was clear, no clouds, though it was pretty warm. I got a ticket for a shuttle tour. I visited the Kennedys' gravesites, cried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers during the changing of the guard, walked through Arlington House. I saw the section of Justice gravesites, where Blackmun, Holmes, Weeks, Marshall, Rehnquist, and more were laid to rest. Justices are offered the choice to be interred at Arlington, though predictions are that the cemetery will reach capacity in 2060. So, if I want to be buried in Arlington Cemetery, I've got to be appointed as a Justice and die before I'm 75.
I've had some brief recurring thoughts of joining the USO. I have such conflicting feelings about our armed forces. On the one hand, I'm a total dove. I don't believe in killing, state-sanctioned or otherwise. Any type of forcible death does not sit well with me. But on the other, I admire those men and women who pledge their lives to the defense of our great nation. As much as I like to complain about my country, and point out all the things I think are wrong about it, I really do love it, especially the part where I'm allowed to complain about it without being arrested (yea for the overturning of the Alien and Sedition Act).
Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of the WTC attacks. There's a Freedom Walk downtown tonight, and there's one in Chicago; there's probably one in all the big cities. There are great big flags hanging from all of the big office buildings in Rosslyn. I wish our country could revisit the unity and cohesion we felt right after the attacks. I miss the way everyone flew American flags from every possible point, "God Bless America" bumper stickers abounded, memorials and shrines for strangers were erected. I miss that feeling of comradery. How long did it last? A month? A few weeks? And then we went back to the usual distance, usual way of dealing with each other. I wish we could go back to a time where hope and love permeated, not fear and cynicism.
posted by Kat @ 18:53
2 Comments:
At 9:41 AM,
Anonymous said…
Acutally my first reaction when someone told me he died was, "He was doing something stupid again, right?" With all the stupid things he did, it's really not surprising to me that an animal caused his death.
National Cemeteries do that kind of thing to me too. I mean the one at Gettysburg is a lot smaller and has less pomp than Arlington, but I still got all choked up at the graves marked with "Unknown from Virginia" markers that were out there. It makes me wonder how long their loved ones waited for them to return home without any fulfillment of that hope. It's really very tragic, especially when you consider that they were there to fight for something in which they really believed.
Tragedy and a common enemy will always bond people together. Those who weren't directly involved in the tragic part healed and resumed our lives and all our old prejudices came back, only we now used evidence from the "war on terror" to support either side again. I guess I figure we're like a bickering family. We don't agree about things so we yell and scream at one another, until a close relative dies. Then we gather around and support each other for a while before resuming our bickering. It's an unfortunate circle.
At 5:39 PM,
On More Serious Matters said…
I haven't been, although something tells me I'm just heartless enough not to cry at it (okay, it really depends on if I'm on my period...) But genuinely, it's not because I don't think that those lives lost are a moving display of great patriotic sacrifice, but more because I think I'd cry if I actually saw their families, rather than just think about it. That's just me, though. I'm insensitive like that...
I don't want you to die at 75. I'll sneak your body in somewhere at Arlington if you promise to live longer. That is, unless, as is likely, you outlive me. In that case, all bets are off.
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