Solitude in a crowd

After walking from Arlington National Cemetery and across the Potomac, we finally reached the Lincoln Memorial. I was hot and sweaty and my feet were killing me but I had just enough energy to climb the steps so I could see the massive statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting on his throne. I shot into the shade, snapped the photo of Abe and got out of there...I just couldn't stand the heat and stillness of the air in there. My only want at that moment was to find a place where the air was moving and the sun wasn't glaring. I found this place by venturing out of the crowd. About 15 steps away and around the side of the memorial I unfolded my map of the city, sat on it and kicked off my flip flops. Finally, I was finding solitude...finding rest. In that moment, I started looking around. I decided that looking out onto the Mall was expected...so I decided to look up. And I was overwhelmed by the sky, the columns of the structure I was sitting on and the moment in the continuous history of that place. I thought of everything that has happened on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I wonder if anyone ever sat where I was sitting during of those historical moments. Anyway, I was reminded to look for and experience something other than the expected. That's easy when you're on vacation so I'm challenging myself to do that once I get home tomorrow. I'm going to start looking at things from a different angle. I'm going to try to remember to see things from another perspective...from a different point of view.