life in the city...or at least... life in this city
or
life in Washington, DC
yesterday I was making small talk with the clerk at the bank
my patronage to that location is not that frequent
but every time I am there I manage to get the same clerk
which has us sharing a pleasant exchange
the final words that passed as I finished my transaction was about Halloween
I left saying I was not sure what I would be for Halloween... but something with a beard
to which the clerk responded... you can always go as Abe Lincoln
okay...
simple enough
too bad I trimmed my beard a bit the other morning
I could have sculpted it in a more Lincoln-esque sort of way
so...
today I found myself looking for a stove pipe hat to go with my already existing Lincoln-like beard
hmmm.... where to go? where to go?
who would have a top hat with a Lincoln feel to it?
I thought for a second and figured the gift store at Ford's Theater should have something that would work
a glance on line and then I picked up the phone to let my fingers to the walking
called the Box Office and got confirmation that they had a hat that would suit my interests
in the car with my seven year old son Grant we headed out on an adventure
some alone time
some one on one time
time with one son instead of two
Grant is a clever little monkey who can sometimes be interested in my mental tangents
as we drove I talked about Abe Lincoln... what number president he was... what coin and what bill is decorated by
some stuff Grant knew other stuff was new to him
we talked more about Abe Lincoln... we talked about Lincoln's historical significance
and then we talked about assassination
the Lincoln assassination and assassination in general
our historical discussion on Abe Lincoln moved to Ronald Reagan as we passed the Washington Hilton where Hinkley made an attempt on the president's life all in an effort to get Jodie Foster's attention
our trip to Ford's theater was a quick in and out
we parked the car and rushed straight to the gift shop
there was a little browsing and then there was some buying
I got the adult size Abe Lincoln hat and Grant got a blue child's size Union soldier cap
both leaving pleased with our purchases
then back to the car
I accepted that this hat was not exactly as tall as the stove pipe hat that is usually seen in the black and white photographs of old honest Abe
but... the price was right and I had it in hand
our adventure continued
we went to Barrack's Row to poke our head into a costume shop
they did not have everything I needed but they had some stuff
they had some stuff and they had a line
rather than let the place be mobbed and chaos they staggered the customers
no black spray hair coloring so I settled for brown
no brown wigs so I settled for black
I bought the black wig and the brown hair spray
so my beard would match the wig
spent too much energy deflecting Grant's requests for things he does not want or need to even look for an alternative to the Ford's Theater Lincoln Hat
as I felt that its association with Fords Theater would outweigh the value of anything other than a real stove pipe hat
or even a real top hat with a Lincoln-like shape to it
well...
after a stop into Woven History to say hello my friend Mehmet
and then a purchase of two pumpkins from The Eastern Market and we were headed from home
our historical conversation had gotten off track until we passed The Kennedy Center
bringing us full circle as we drove the final miles to home
now lets see how my costume comes together for this evening's party