A day-trip to DC with the Cubs

Today I had the interesting experience of visiting Washington DC with a group of six 10-year old Cub Scouts. Our destination -- the Building Museum. Oh, you've never heard of the Building Museum? You're not alone. It is a beautiful building, but not much of a museum, in my opinion.

The museum is housed in an ornate 19th century structure typical of government buildings in DC from that era. Inside is a massive central lobby that rises four stories to the vaulted roof and its skylights. The lobby is surrounded by balconies which provide access to rooms along the perimeter of the building. Astonishingly huge stone columns support the roof and arches. I wondered what great and holy work of government could have inspired the construction of such an impressive edifice over 100 years ago. Can you believe it, the building was designed and built to house the offices of the US Pension Bureau!

Well, today it is "The Building Museum."

Caleb's den visited the museum because it was host today for a special kid-oriented exhibition on Engineering. There were booths all throughout the lobby manned by volunteers from professional engineering and scientific organizations. At these booths, kids were given the opportunity to perform simple experiments that illustrated scientific principles of one sort or another. It was a little bit exhausting, but interesting. I learned, or re-learned, a few things myself. The boys were mostly okay with the whole adventure. I think they probably liked the "Lego Room" the best. This simple exhibit consisted of a small auditorium, whose carpeted floor was strewn with thousands upon thousands of legos. The kids could sit on the floor and build lego creations with a virtually unlimited and diversified supply of lego bricks. For some 10-year old boys, it just doesn't get any better than this. (Actually, some 40+ year-old boys enjoyed it too.)
If you actually want to learn something about the Building Museum here's the link:
http://www.nbm.org/

Theodore Roosevelt

For the last couple of years I've been fascinated with Theodore Roosevelt. There are so many things about him that I find appealing -- his courage, determination, zest for life, devotion to his family. There are, of course, other things less admirable about him, but overall I am really impressed with the man.

It all started when I picked a copy of "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" at the local library. It took me quite a long while to get through this hefty biography -- only to realize that the book ends when Teddy rises to the presidency! So, of course, I had to go on to read Edmund Morris' sequel "Theodore Rex," which covers the presidential years. Then for Christmas last year I received "The River of Doubt -- Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey." Wow, what a great book! This one should be made into a movie. Now I'm reading "Bully Father: Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children." When will it end?

When you read about TR, it takes you back to a time when the country was younger and more vigorous. TR personified all the virtues of bold exploration and American vigor that helped make ours a great nation. We have become soft and dull today by comparison, and I don't think TR would be at all happy with the country's present condition. Here's a great TR quote:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."