After the downpour. The Washington Mall flooded. It absolutely poured an hour earlier. We had to wade through 4-6" of water!

From the Lincoln Memorial steps. Note the crane faintly seen at the other end of the mall. This is from the WWII Memorial being built.

Washington Monument near sunset.

These children spend every November living in a tipi on the grounds of the mall, near the Washington Monument. They are from the Omaha Tribe & their parents are Native Rights activists. We visit them every November and have watched them grow up.

Their parents Nathan and Shoshona, invited us into their warm tipi for the first time when it was a 11 degree, windy evening when I had Addie (then 6) with me. We had some friends in common on the Navajo reservation. We became quick friends.

I was fortunate to visit the wall on the 25th anniversary. They asked family members to read the names of the fallen for a 3 day period of time. In addition, many offerings were laid at the wall.

The anniversary of the wall. See DSCN 0811 narrative. You can see the long lines of visitors, families and reunions of military groups here for the commemoration.