Christmas in the District

My office in Washington, DC

Although there are many people trying to eliminate Christmas from our nation, there is still evidence that even in a jaded city like Washington, DC, people still love this holiday. The picture above is 10th Street and the building that covers the majority of the photo (on the left side of the photo) is my office building there. We are 10 blocks from the Capitol building, about 3 blocks from the White House, and 5 blocks from the Washington Monument. It's hard to see from the above picture, but there are wreaths and bows hanging on the building lights.

Christmas decorations on G Street

Around the corner from my office there are lighted snowflakes on each of the lampposts. The picture to the left is one of those snowflakes. Without a tripod, at this time of morning I would not be able to handhold a photo of a distant shot lining these up, but it really is a beautiful sight to see the repeating patterns of these snowflakes.

The lobby of my office building

But my favorite shot from this morning was the one to the right. This is the lobby of my office building, which is shared by a luxury hotel. It's a little hard to see at this size, but there are Christmas trees on each floor and evergreen garland and red bows on the railings. A gorgeous scene to look at while I wait for my 6:00 am Starbucks coffee. I took this photo while I was waiting in line at Starbucks, which is also attached to the hotel lobby.

I don't like the "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or the use of Santa Claus and Christmas trees while eliminating manger scenes, but I still love the sense of peace and joy that accompanies the Christmas season. Rather than fighting the culture warriors opposed to all things Christmas, we should take advantage of the fact that this season still evokes a sense of "peace to men of goodwill."