Since getting to know Washington, DC, I realized that its a place that most Americans visit, but never actually see. The true beauty of this city is known only to residents and this provides a strata of a commonality that binds them together. Why do I love DC? Community, plain and simple. – Kirk, WeLoveDC
The contributors at WeLoveDC (Congrats on your anniversary!) have been publishing a series of articles on "Why I Love DC." Kirk wrote a really good one the other day, stressing the point of community. I found myself thinking in this arena several times in the last few days.
The first was watching John King on CNN. I forget his exact words, but it was something like, it’s good to get out of Washington now and then and visit the communities across the country.
You hear this all the time, the juxtaposition of Washington as the cold, calculating political capital, versus the heartland, the fabric of the country, the “real” people of the U.S.A. But as Kirk notes, Washington has communities too. (Isn’t it amazing how those who loved to malign Washington when they were in office, end up staying??)
Of course, it takes time to get to know them. As Kirk says, “I’ll admit that I lived in the area for a solid 4 years before I began to discover that DC actually had a personality.”
We got here in 1995 and I remember how it took time to get to know the area. Gradually, you do feel like you are part of the community. And what I’m going through now are the continuing discoveries. In the last month or so, I’ve been getting to know Del Ray more and more (I’m addicted to frozen custard!), and I’m finding it to be a page right out of small town America. I was sitting on a bench on its main thoroughfare last week, shooting the breeze with a lady who was born there. The cars whiz by Mount Vernon Avenue, but life slows down in Del Ray. There’s lots of mom and pop shops, and I felt very relaxed there.
Kirk’s themes also emerged when I was listening to Bob Scheiffer on CSPAN Radio. Like many of the older journalists on the beat here, he has lived in Washington for quite a long time. They rarely say it, but I bet if you pressed them, many would say they like living here. But Scheiffer, who said he visits his hometown of Fort Worth a couple of times a year, said, and once again I don’t have the exact words, I will always call Fort Worth home.
Bob’s sentiment is quite understandable. My Mom used to say, your home is where your heart is.
Washington certainly has a heavier side, but
it has communities too.
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