1,001 Words

Saturday, March 31 - 10:30am - C&O Canal Lock 1, NW Washington DC

My grandmother passed away last week.  She was my dad’s mom.  I have never been as close to that side of the family as I am to my mom’s side.  But while going for an outdoor adventure downtown Saturday, I snapped this picture where the C&O Canal meets Rock Creek.  Grandma & Granddad Muttart loved the C&O Canal.  They thought it was neat, a great piece of American history, and a well-preserved piece of nostalgia.  I didn’t realize that until I was older, and realized people dug a 185 mile canal to connect the Potomac River to the Ohio River (the canal only made it part of the way - going to Cumberland, MD instead of Pittsburgh, PA).  The Grandparents Muttart got to see most of the canal, most of which is now a park parallel to the Potomac River through Maryland and DC.  I guess when you get to a certain age, it’s just fun to check out stuff like that.  What else do you have to do?

If I were the artistic type and artsy type, I would tell you I took this picture at the end of the Canal because while the canal ends, the water keeps going - from the locks down into Rock Creek, which goes into the Potomac, which goes into the Chesapeake, which goes into the Atlantic.  The symbolism is nice - while a life may end, it keeps going on to the next stage.  A life could be taken through the canal, but now it’s just part of the water, going on to the next stage.  But I didn’t really intend to do that - I just thought it up while in the car the next day.  I’ll best remember Grandma Muttart’s devious smile - it’s like she knew she shouldn’t smile, but couldn’t help it, so it was doubly good.  Plus her name, Marita.  It means "little sea."  Always thought that was pretty.

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