A Not-So-Funny-Thing Happened During Our Tour of the Capitol

Today's Capitol tour was more exciting than expected. After our tour, we hit the cafeteria with the kids. The sixteen of us lingered a bit past the 4:00 closing time. We were gathering up the trash and packing the kiddies, (seven adults and nine smidgeons) when an alarm started. A voice came over the PA announcing that the Capitol grounds were on lockdown, and the cafeteria staff flew into action. They were AMAZING. Hats off to them and probably everyone else, but I was immensely impressed with how they flew into action to protect us.

One worker commandeered one of the strollers, (we had two strollers and a wheelchair) and politely but firmly told us to follow quickly. Several other workers created an evacuation line to herd us to a secure place, assuring us we were safe as the alarm continued to sound. All the staff in there were equally calm, prepared, friendly, but in control of the situation as they moved us into the theater area. I was so proud and impressed.

Two school groups were searching for their students as we tried to get info. No one was saying much, but the Twitter feeds had the first report, then the news feeds started talking about a shooter outside.

We were fine and our containment only lasted about 45 minutes, but I felt safe and protected by the wonderful staff. Hats off to those cafeteria worker-turned-security people for jumping into action. Most of them spoke with accents and came here from other lands, but they placed themselves in front of us to keep us safe. PROUD AMERICANS ALL!!!

READING ACROSS AMERICA with ME, FLAT STANLEY, and a GAGGLE OF THIRD-GRADERS!

Flat Stanley is a unique book character created by author Jeff Brown nearly fifty years ago. When a bulletin board over his bed falls from the wall and smashes Stanley flat, a world of new adventures open to him. The Flat Stanley Project encourages pen pal-type relationships to develop through Stanley as he is mailed around the world.

Annette Lyon--author, wife, mother, editor, mentor--provided me with a new opportunity last week. Her daughter was involved in a Flat Stanley project, and she asked me to participate. A dear friend and I carried Stanley to Washington on a very windy day, to photograph him at some of the Capital's most interesting sights. We nearly lost the paper guy in gusts of fifty-mile-per-hour winds over the Potomac, so much of our tour had to be conducted from within a car, but we had a blast. (No pun intended.)

The timing of Stanley's arrival coincided with an invitation I had received to visit a third-grade class on "Read Across America" day. I packed Stanley up and carried him to Winfield Elementary School here in Maryland, to meet Mrs. Cage's class. Her students are roughly the age of my Stanley's creator--Annette's daughter--and they were very familiar with Stanley.

We talked about books and about writing. I brought along some of my favorite children's books including my ultimate favorite, "The Velveteen Rabbit," and a few others I thought would be interesting, like my husband's "Roy Rogers" Golden Book from 1948, and an old book we inherited titled, "Prairie Boys" that bears an inscription on the cover that reads, "Christmas 1900."

I read a few paragraphs from "Prairie Boys," and noted how different the language and topics of children's literature was a century ago, then I read them my children's favorite storybook, "Leo the Lop." Though my children are grown, and the world has changed considerably from the one they grew up in, the story of accepting oneself and others was perhaps more relevant than ever to these sweet-eyed students.

Stanley took center stage next as I showed them some images of his visit to D.C. The students were probably most impressed by a bit of dazzling trivia--that the Library of Congress contains 530 miles of bookshelves! I have to admit, that little factoid boggles my own mind.

All in all, it was a therapeutic afternoon to be back in a classroom with children. I suppose the truth of it is, I miss the recentering that comes from being with children on a daily basis. I had spent the early morning listening to reports of Charlie Sheen's meltdowns, and news of Libya's civil unrest, the DOW's plunge and rising oil prices. After all that, it was revitalizing to spend a few hours with lovable children as we read about bunnies and cowboys, and allowed our imaginations to run wild. This is the stuff that matters.