“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
A few memories about Albert, and this is a bit of a ramble heads-up! The following is from an old blog post I wrote when we visited his statue in Washington DC. It is word for word from one dated in March 2009, and I had one of those 'good grief' moments when I read it. I am beginning to wonder if my earlier mishaps are revisiting me later in life. We went into the city a lot more often than we do now.
"When I was browsing through old photo folders, I found these. I haven't visited Albert's statue in several years but often see the top of his head over the hedge on our drive out of Washington DC on our way home. I told Gregg I think I am ready to go back.
Remember my other persona, Clara Clutz? Last time I visited Albert I tripped up one of those steps and hit my shin bone so hard I can still feel the dent to this day. I hobbled around for months, and it took over a year before I could kneel down without wincing. It literally has been years since we've visited Albert. There have been other places I have not suggested going back to, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that I can be a complete nervous nelly remembering places and incidents that have caused me great pain. Anyhow, I've just told Gregg we should visit as it is truly a marvelous statue.”
Present day now but I am still looking back as another memory was when we watched two rollerbladers swoop in to see the statue, but they were coming in way too fast. In that slow motion effect about 20 feet away - I couldn't believe what was happening, especially as I hadn't long had my mishap and was still gaining my equilibrium - one of the rollerbladers caught a foot on a crack in the concrete and did a somersault landing several feet away. They were young and fortunately for him, it seemed he was none the worse for his mishap, a lot of bruises that night no doubt. Fortunately they were wearing helmet, elbow and knee pads. I was happy about that and also very happy to get out of there!
This post started yet another conversation with my dear other half as the story doesn't stop there. We crossed the street and were walking back to our car, I was hobbling and going a lot slower than normal, staring down at my feet as I didn't want to trip over anything else. A young man on a bicycle rode by us and as I looked up, a few feet ahead of us, his tire slid on some dust and gravel, and down he went. He had a bloody knee. We asked him if he was okay, did he need any help? He was okay he said and grabbed something out of his backpack to dab on his knee, looked at his bike which was still ridable, and off he went. Gregg and I looked at each other and even he rolled his eyes that day.
And what a day it was! We had warm weather and a beautiful blue sky and mishaps galore, or at least three of them. I remember putting a bag of ice on my sore spot that night and a slow recovery process followed.
Well, it was worth it to see Albert. I suppose I can say this all these years later. It is such a beautiful statue sculpted by Robert Berks and is on the grounds of the National Academy of Science. You will often see a line of people waiting their turn to sit on his lap for their photograph. We were lucky, I wouldn't sit on the statue itself but had been trying to sit on the step after the last couple left and that's when it happened. But, if you ever get the chance go visit him, do - but be careful of those steps! I think he must still be there, though I haven't been into DC for a very long time, or even traveled up the road where we could see the top of his head. These photos were before digital and were taken with a little point and shoot camera.
