The final day of going Walkabout was yet another beautiful day in a string of them. Honestly, the only day the weather was lousy was the trip to Chattanooga and even then the worst of it was one downpour that happened to catch me handing over some tax papers to my client! All in all, no complaints at all!
The final visit was the one I don’t think anyone had any doubt would happen when they learned I was hopping a wind. At least this time, visiting Dad didn’t have the oppressive pressure of the previous one in August when I had finally fulfilled the promise made so many years ago.
As I’m coming over the hill to Section 76 from the side of Arlington closest to the Pentagon, I stumbled upon a funeral for a fallen Marine between me and Dad’s grave.
There was no way on Earth that I was going to drive through whilst that ceremony was being conducted. Truth be told, I’m rather glad I wasn’t in a rush because I honestly don’t remember everything about Dad’s graveside service. Certainly I remember the flag and the gun salute and the intonation of the thanks of a grateful nation but this was the first time I could see the ceremony as an outsider looking in.
Once the ceremony was complete and all had departed, I continued a little bit down the hill to spend some more time with Dad. He really does have a wonderful place…in sight of the Pentagon where he never served, in the departure pattern for DCA, and a nice gentle hill with a good view toward Rosslyn and the Washington monument.
On the way back to the Traverse, I noticed a flower pot that was tipped over and so I walked over to set it upright again. And in an instance of cosmic irony, the name on the grave was my grandmother’s name “Anna Mae”. You just can’t make up this stuff!
As I was getting ready to get underway, another funeral service was starting down the hill and the horse-drawn carriage and caisson were moved down the street where I needed to go to exit so that the gunshots wouldn’t spook the horses. Eventually they made it far enough away that I could sneak past the visitor’s centre and bag that traditional shot of Abe’s Place over the bridge before turning south toward home.
This time, I did get a couple of passing shots of the Pentagon before fighting the traffic jam in the Mixing Bowl and the rolling roadblocks from Richmond all the way to Rocky Mount.
In spite of the obstacles, I still made it home in 03:47 which is a new record. Without the jams or roadblocks, I’d likely have broken 03:30 easily.
As much as I enjoyed wandering round and seeing a lot of things I’d never seen before and experienced some of the things I’ve truly loved again, there’s nothing quite like the feeling with I see that familiar tri-coloured flag come in view announcing that I’ve come back home where I belong.
There really is no place like home. 🙂
