Pocahontas-D.C. Chronicles Part 2

This afternoon, we went to Monticello (Little Mountain in Italian), the home of Thomas Jefferson. I was impressed by the complex character of our third president. He was an intelligent but conflicted man. I also learned that Monticello is the building on the back on a nickel! The estate was so beautiful and Virginia is amazing.




This morning we visited Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. All the workers there were dressed up like the settlers. We did things like build a canoe, scrape hair off deer hide, braid rope, catch some z's on an Indian bed. All in all a great time. We also heard the REAL story of Pocahontas, who did save the life of John Smith but ended up married to John Rolfe (who created the tobacco industry) and she eventually moved to London and converted to Christianity.





What a great day! I can't wait for tomorrow!

Busted in Williamsburg-The D.C. Chronicles Part 1

Watcha gonna do when they come for you...

We're barely in town for a couple hours before Lisa gets busted by the local constable and gets put in the stocks. Luckily we got her out in time to board the bus and head for the hotel.

Me Jane

According to the magic book in the Sorcerer's Lair at California Adventure, my secret Disney identity is Jane from the movie Tarzan. I can deal with that. She's pretty cool for a girl who hangs out with gorillas and dates men wearing loincloths.

Chillin' at the GV!

On Saturday, we drove up to Santa Monica to go to the Getty Villa. It was my second time visiting. Even if we had seen nothing in the museum, it still would be have been an awesome day because we got to make these wreaths with myrtle and flowers. Check out the awesome headgear:


The Getty Villa is like taking a trip to Europe , and all you have to do is drive up the 405. I have seen more valuable and historically significant art in Europe, but going to the Villa is so great because it's like experiencing Roman life for yourself. Standing in the middle of a beautiful peristyle with musicians playing Egyptian instruments, I could totally imagine I was really living in the Roman Empire.
Greek vases rock! Check out my man Theseus killing the Minotaur (the half-man, half-bull) in the middle of the Labyrinth.

Saturday was so wonderful, combining two of my favorite things, museums and great friends.

Honestly, this score is a lot lower than it should be. 1o points should be added just for being in band in high school.

If Thou Could'st Empty All Thyself of Self-by Sir Thomas Browne

My last post reminded me of this poem, one of my favorites.

If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say, "This is not dead,"
And fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou are all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, "This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for me."

Paradox

Whoever saves his life will lose it, whoever loses his life will save it.
Perfect freedom lies in complete surrender.
The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.
I can only be wholly myself when I have lost all sense of self.
We are strongest when we have embraced our weakness.
Etc. (There lots of others.)

The Bible and the Christian faith contains so many examples of paradox, things which always give me food for thought and ideas to which I always seem to return. God seems to deal in these paradoxes. I think that although the pardoxes can be understood partially on an intellectual plane, they can never be understood completely because they reflect a deeper reality of the spiritual world, a reality in which we cannot participate while we are still tied to the physical one. I am sure that learned theologians have written more intelligently and interestingly about this, but I still thought I would share.

(BTW, I think the plural of paradox should be paradoxa, not paradoxes.)