The Best Day

{Scarlett here}

Why is it that we only seem to really appreciate things once they're almost over?

Last night I had the BEST night in DC, and it was to bid farewell to a good friend who's moving off to greener pastures. (Well, at least I hope the pastures are still green. At this time of the year in TX, they may be yellow, but that's beside the point.)

We didn't have any scripted plans. We just wanted to enjoy her last night and each other's company. Another one of her best friends came over, and the three of us started the evening by drinking champagne and eating cheese and pretzels while giggling on the sofa. Then we got dressed up and went to a neighborhood dive bar where we met another friend. We laughed and kicked back with Blue Moons and cracked each other up by making up fake stories to the guys who tried to come talk to us. (Someone out there now thinks I'm a flight attendant from Baltimore. Little known fact: I'm not.)

Then we went to the grocery store and got turkey, fancy cheese, sourdough bread and yummmm salt and vinegar kettle chips. We piled back in the car and headed to downtown DC, destination: the Washington Monument. As anyone who's ever driven in DC knows, it's next to impossible to get where you're going without accidentally circling down a side street you didn't intend to take. Last night's detour led us to a street by the Sculpture Gardens. When we peeked inside, we saw a beautiful, tiny ice rink with maybe twenty amateur skaters gliding across it under twinkling white lights. The three of us just sort of gasped. We parked the car, and without any real discussion whatsoever, we walked into the garden in unison and rented skates. It was about 9 pm.

The rink wasn't too crowded and nobody was really very good at ice skating so we fit right in with the crowd. We made several loops around in the crisp night air. It was wonderful. Then we got back into the car, and resumed our journey toward the Washington Monument. As it happened, we ended up more on the Lincoln side, with a view of the monument from across the reflecting pool. We spread out a blanket and had our makeshift picnic right there. It was ... perfect.

Throughout the course of the evening, we each said what we like best about DC. A year ago, that would have been harder for me to say. My first year in this city was tough. I didn't have a good job and I felt like an outsider. I had friends, but all of us felt like we were just hanging on by our fingernails. We were all struggling. This year, actually, sometime within the last two months or so, something finally clicked. After 23 months of living here, I finally feel like I belong.

What's my favorite thing about DC? I love the milkshakes at Good Stuff. I love the way the monuments and museums still sometimes take my breath away. I love all the different ethnic restaurants and the hipster vibe that rocks along with all the buttoned up politico types. I love that I don't have to explain where I live by giving the nearest big city that's only 3 hours away. But my favorite thing is the Passion. Passion with a capital P. It's everywhere. People come do DC because they want to change something, they want to work for something, they want to make a difference. Every single one of my friends has it. I've got friends who are passionate about politics, passionate about international affairs, passionate about the environment and passionate about their faith. I. LOVE. IT.

What about you? What's YOUR passion?

~ Scarlett