Hey get out of my shot!

Lazy days of summer. H.A.B. or H.A.F. as the acronym goes. I was too overheated to walk to the other side of the foot path at the D.C. Mall to get a better photo of the Capitol or the Washington Monument, which was directly behind me. Weatherman said we were going to get a break but we were "in the South." We started the day at the "Sip & Bite" diner for breakfast. I had some scrapple for the first (and last) time and although it was mighty tasty I can't really identify what's inside. From there we headed to the district where A. can park free in a top secret underground garage. Hopped onto the Metro and went to visit Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The purpose of the visit was to see the gravesite of the honorable George Breeman, an ancestor of the family. Learned a whole lot about George, who is a medal of honor winner and after his heroic actions had a ship named after him the USS Breeman, which unfortunately was sold off to China in 1948. While we were walking around the cemetery, we were among other tourists, of course, including about 10,000 Boy Scouts. (The BSA is the largest youth organization in the United States. Its educational programs for boys aim to build character, participatory citizenship, and personal fitness.) May I stress fitness? All of these kids converged at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for wreath placing ceremonies. Most creepy, however, was that we were walking around a cemetery with the Boy Scout leaders on Sunday and the following day at their national Jamboree four of them were killed in a freak accident when a tent pole hit a power line.

After the day was through and we were heading for the train, we stopped at a pushcart for some dirty water dogs, hot pretzels, and water. A. had to mention that when walking around in cities it's hard to get a nutritious meal in a hurry. Maybe you had to be there, but we laughed hysterically until we couldn't breathe after H retorted, "Yeah, it's like saying to your body, 'Here's another pretzel. Do what you can.' "