Worshipping God by the Securities and Exchange Commission in D.C.

For Thanksgiving, we went to a worship service, yesterday, at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse just down the street from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.  That's where the National Community Church has one of its three locations.

We are here for the Thanksgiving weekend to visit our son, Justin, the Undercover Geek. Our daughter, Krista, also flew in for a family get-together. 

Even though this is the first morning where we have seen the sun, I am really, really thankful for this visit.  I really needed a whole family fix.  I admit that I'm addicted to my kids.  They are, indeed, great adults and have started their individual lives away from the nest, but it's still wonderful to see them.

Since arriving Wednesday morning, I can say that I've been struck by:

• Public transportation that seems to really work.  We have taken the Metro subway many times during the past couple of days.  We caught the Metro at Reagan Airport and with our bags we rode to Justin's apartment.  It was a piece of cake.

• Costs are incredible.  You can't be poor in the D.C. area and survive.  On Wednesday night, we went to a Whole Foods Supermarket in Arlington, Virginia where the prices seemed to be 25 percent higher than Meijers back in Michigan.  Apartments rents are a couple galaxies beyond sky high.N


• The importance of National Symbols.  After we met Justin at the Fire Hook Coffeehouse, across from the Library of Congress, we walked to Union Station where we ate supper.  Of course, it was raining hard the whole walk.

We walked down a street, forget the name, where we looked down a sidestreet and saw the dome of the U.S. Capitol.  It was inspiring.  Last night, we saw the Washington Monument all lit up and again, I felt real pride in my nation.

• The U.S. Holacaust Museum.  I'd been there once before.  Again, I was reminded of what can happen when leaders run amuck.  On the way out, we saw an outdoor movie projected on the walls of the building about the genocide in Darfur.

For Thanksgiving dinner, Justin cooked in his apartment.  Wow.  He loves to cook and he does it well.  We had chicken breasts, little read potatoes, salad, wine and even pomegranite seeds to garnish everything. 

Today, we are going to check out the bargains at the Pentagon City Mall and then we'll go back downtown.  Yeah, we do have some pictures.  I will try to put them up later.