Originally called “Decoration Day”, origins are traced back to the Civil War and the activities of Southern Women decorating graves. The first official observation, though, was May 30, 1868. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a National Holiday by Congress, who established not May 30, but the last Monday in May as the official date.

In some ways, it feels odd to be in the DFW area instead of the DC area, as I have been blessed to spend Memorial Day in DC for four of the past six years. I was in DC last week, though, and was able to spend some time at The Navy Memorial as well as Arlington National Cemetery.    Two favorite spots of mine.    Both, spaces to remember those who have given their lives in service to our Country.  Both with very personal meaning.

During the weekend, I hope you take the time to pause a moment and say a thanks to those in which we honor on Memorial Day.

(Photos are Mine, Taken Around Washington DC.  First four photos are Arlington National Cemetery.  The rest of the photos:  Navy Memorial, WWII Memorial, Korean Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial)

This lantern is found along the tidal basin and is lit during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

This week, work has brought me to DC, which is my favorite place to be. I won’t be able to get out and do all the things I’d like to do (I don’t think I will make it to Arlington Cemetery this trip), but I did get an opportunity for some things.

After a rough winter, DC was blessed today with clear skies, light winds, temperatures in the low 80′s, and unadulterated beauty. The crowds are pretty intense with the peak of the blossoms and a holiday weekend. But I was blessed to be able to see the true beauty that Mother Nature offers us in the Spring.

Hope you are well.  It’s long past my bedtime.

My favorite city in the Spring: Washington DC, April 2008.

Cherry Blossoms, April 2008.

People watching is certainly a pastime of which I see as one of those guilty pleasures in life. People are fascinating as they go about their lives, often oblivious to the surrounding world. I am always wondering about the person’s story. At times, it’s suitable to engage in conversation the people around you, and many of the stories you will see from me in this project will reflect just that: a tiny piece of a life, captured in conversations with a stranger. There are situations, however, that are best left unexplored, albeit for a safety factor (both emotional safety and physical safety) or an due to the inappropriateness of an approach during a moment of grief or passion.

As an observer of life, there is something especially delicious about the opportunity to watch lovers.  Body language gives you the glimpses inside their story, though you will never be privileged enough to know all the twists and turns their lives took to become this intertwined pair.  An elderly couple holding hands can show the affection that has continued beyond youth and you can sometimes see the spark between a couple  if you hold the look for more than ten seconds.    The rare opportunity to unobtrusively snap a photo gives you the opportunity to look at more.  The tilt of the head as she listens to him speak, the leaning into each other for just an smidgen of closeness in a public space, or the possessiveness of an arm that shows he sees her as his property.  Sometimes, it is obvious that one party is more interested than the other.

As I walked around the curve of the Jefferson Memorial to snag a photo of The Tidal Basin awash in Cherry Blossoms, I happened upon this couple leaning in to snap their own personal snapshot of the moment.    At one of the busiest locations during the Cherry Blossom Festival, they have managed to find complete privacy.  She is trying to get a photo, for the memory of their trip or perhaps to show her Facebook friends their visit to DC.  He is obliging her the photo, but he seems more interested in leaning in to whisper in her ear and take in the scent of her.

I’ve been woolgathering for days about this couple, imagining the behind the scenes of their relationship.   I am a writer of fact more than fiction these days.   My words of prose were inadequate to do justice to her smile and his lean.

(win a signed copy of his book at All Things Girl)