mr. lisa goes to washington

I’m euphoric in the way I only get when I’m on a journey somewhere. I love starting journeys. I love being on them. I love the feeling I get when I’m skipping through LAX, dodging tourists and businesspeople, invisible in the twentysomething uniform of jeans and sneakers. I love jumping off planes in new airports, and challenging myself to find my way around a new city.

Tonight, I’m happy because I’m going into new territory, my first time east of the Mississipi. I’m going to Washington, DC. I’m going to get to see so many of the places that are so important, literally, culturally and symbolically, to being an American. I’m so excited about that, about being immersed in American history for a few days.

I’m also going so I can make history though. I’m going to scream for money for levees, not bombs. I’m going to chant and yell for schools, not Iraq. I’m calling for the removal of a leader who’s sold us out (Halliburton has NO BID CONTRACTS IN LOUISIANA) and who’s neglected America in favor of a war that’s served no one any good. I’m fighting for the country I call home now.

So. I go to Washington tonight. And I will skip through LAX in my usual fashion, with the backpack that’s gone with me through ten years and six cities. It’s my version of the Fool’s bundle, it’s my version of the Fool’s journey, this exploration and challenge to America. I’m going into a new part of the country tonight.