Walking with the Crowds

(Image Credit: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/06/04/midday2/

I remember in Philadelphia, as a volunteer for the Obama campaign, arriving at the volunteer office just blocks from the Community College of Philadelphia on Spring Garden Street where I had once worked. I returned to Philadelphia after hard break up with the city. There were things about it I couldn't master and things I refused to face. It was something like the way people refer to New York City when they say, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

I returned to the city with mixed feelings. Obama brought me back. But it was also time for me to reconcile my differences. My assignment from the volunteer office was to knock on doors and ask people if we could count on their support. I started out with a friend, and as we walked through the streets with our Obama gear, I began feeling better about the city.

Of course there were dissenters, Republicans, and the like who did not support Obama. But overall, there were a lot of people who believed in the promise, that thing we call "change" moving along quietly, with that feeling that reporters called in their news stories "momentum." Reflecting upon that time in the face of an inauguration, I see how time and place can profoundly affect a person's attitude.

The Friday before I went doorknocking for Obama, I had attended one of his rallies in the downtown area. It's in an historic district, just on the other side of Chinatown and minutes from the waterfront on Columbus. What's most amazing was the commonality I felt between myself and the thousands of other supporters who had gathered that day. That was a feeling that had been missing when I used to reside there. Today, I stood at 6th and Market, paces from the Liberty Bell, and squinted out over the crowds. I was part of a huddled mass of supporters, mile upon mile strong, shoulder to shoulder, north to south, friend and stranger gathered to support a campaign that transformed me, my attitudes, and this country.

I share this episode because in spite of the barriers you'll face on your way to D.C., whether personal or logistical, know that your journey will be worth it. It is a monumentous thing to stand and be a part of history. That is what it will feel like as you walk through the crowds. It won't matter how close you get or how far down the Mall you are, just being there, being among other supporters will make your journey to D.C. a remarkable one.

For more travel stories, please visit my travel website at MidAtlantic USA at BellaOnline.com.

A Little Thing Happened on the Way in New Orleans

Stephanie Meyer is a writer of vampire fiction. Her latest book, Eclipse, is a hit and is somewhat related to this blog. If you love vampires, I'm sure you'll love Eclipse, but this genre of book is really not my sip of blood...er, cup of tea.

Here's an interesting blog post from one of the blogs I follow. She talks about spiritual warfare and how she relieved herself of fear through scripture and prayer.

Wine, Tomatoes & Dandelions: But I will trust in Him...selah...

I bring this up because I experienced something similar myself yesterday. I'm away on business now (though that is not a good excuse for not blogging) and one of the things there is to do here where I am is go on a tour. I'm here in the French Quarter of New Orleans and I have the options of taking one of the lesser expensive walking tours (which mostly have to do with ghosts and vampires and such), take a less interesting tour of a garden, or spend loads of money taking a tour of the swamp. Of course, given my financial challenge of 2009 to save at least $2000, I'm looking at the less costly options as the better options.

I'm not usually interested in "the dark side," but I figured, well, I'm in New Orleans, the home of Voodoo, so going on a dark tour would simply be like partaking of the culture. I really had to psyche myself up for this. The tour didn't start until 8:30, so I walked around a bit. Ambling really. I'd convinced myself to take the vampire tour, meeting up at a nearby voodoo shop to start. The closer I got to the start of the tour, though, the more I kept being reminded of God. I began to see crosses in storefronts that I hadn't seen before when I had passed by earlier. Then I walked into an antique shop and saw another cross. I jokingly said I should buy one to protect me while I'm out on the vampire tour. He didn't laugh. He walked over to me, picked up the cross, and opened it. He said it was "sick" cross. He showed me where the holy water went and several other things that were supposed to go in it.

Well, that last experience did it for me. Nightfall had finally come over the city, and I'd decided to just go back to my hotel. I'd gotten some beignets and a cafe au lait from the legendary Cafe du Monde and headed back. I'd passed by this homeless man (or at least a disheveled man who appeared homeless) and he said something to me under his breath, but I did hear him say something like, "get out of New Orleans." He could have been saying anything. He could have been talking about he wanted to leave the city. He could have been deranged. But the crosses, and vampires, and the darkness really scared the daylights out of me so that when I heard him say that, I really felt I needed to get back to my hotel.

So headed on and then I thought about dinner. I stopped in a dive and ordered two slices to go. Then I stayed to chat with the bartender for a while. Wouldn't you know it, when I left that place, the homeless man was outside, along with three other devious characters, sitting in a dark alleyway just on the other side of my hotel.

Obviously, I made it back because I've lived to write this blog. But my goodness, how strange it is that the blogger from Wine, Tomatoes, and Dandelions also had an eerily similar spiritual experience at around the same time.