Lots of Friends in the Washington Area

I got back to Washington pretty late Saturday night.  The remainder of the D.C. trip was less eventful.  On Sunday I did get to go into the city and go to church.  Afterwards I had a couple of hours and was able to visit some other old friends...

I totally love the National Gallery!  Whenever I'm in D.C. with any time to "see the sights," I will always forsake the monuments and other museums and plunk myself in the National Gallery.  There is a series of paintings there by American artist Thomas Cole that in particular I can't help but seek out.  It is a set of four paintings which form an allegory for the life cycle of man.

The first features an infant riding riding a gilded boat out of a prenatal cave into a young world filled with beauty and hope and promise.  A guardian angle follows along, keeping the boat steady.

In the second painting the infant is now a youth in the prime of life.  The world is still fresh and beautiful and filled with promise.  The young man is ready to embark on his own for the celestial city and dismisses his guardian angel, anticipating a smooth journey.  His youthful ignorance and pride keeps him from considering his route more carefully and he fails to notice that his river does not flow directly to his destination, but is circuitous and meandering; curves hidden from him, but visible to us, show rocks and rapids not too far downstream.

The third painting shows the former youth much humbled by life and repentant of his pride and independence.  The world is no longer serene and beautiful, but plagued with tempests and threats all around.  Thinking himself alone, a result of his own doing, he prays fervently for help, unaware that he has not been abandoned, but that his guardian angel still accompanies him just out of sight.

In the last painting the pilgrim, now a weary old man, has emerged from the torrid river into the utter dark and stillness of an endless sea. He is old and spent and has no self-will left.  Likewise, his boat is beaten and battered.  He realizes now that back in the most tumultuous times of his life's journey he had not been abandoned after all.  Not only does he see his guardian angel, but finds that he is inviting him to depart his boat and accompany him on journey of a different kind.  Though the sea is dark and dreary, we see a beam of light coming out of the clouds and another angel high up, beckoning to him.

Oh, and by the way, I should probably report that on my way back to the train station I was able to confirm that both the White House and the Capitol are still there.

The hotels the company puts me up in are generally pretty nice. I have few complaints. This time however... I'd read in the news that the entire Washington area was having a problem with a stink bug explosion. Evidently they were everywhere. I thought little of it, but sure enough, when I got back to my room one night I found I had a visitor hanging out on my window blinds.

The next night he had brought a friend. The following night it was a small party. By the end of my stay I had seven stink bugs hanging out on the blinds. They didn't go anywhere so they didn't bother me and I made it a point not to bother them, so we managed to peacefully co-exist. I probably should have let the hotel staff know, but hey, it was company.