Inside the Beltway

I’m inside the Washington D.C. Beltway. OK, not all that far in the beltway. I can see it from my hotel window, though, and I’m on the inside looking out. So technically I’m in the beltway. But I’ll be honest. After a full day of being officially here in the beltway I’m not looking or thinking about things any differently than I was two days ago when I was back home in Iowa, way far away from the beltway. I’ve always read and heard that those who are in the beltway of D.C. don’t see things the way those of us outside the beltway see things. I was hoping that by the time I got inside the beltway I’d start seeing things in a whole new way. Maybe sort of like looking through a kaleidoscope. Or maybe like wearing those night-vision goggles soldiers wear. (What would it be like to wear those during the day?) Or maybe like trying to watch one of those old 3D movies with the paper glasses with one red plastic lens and one green plastic lens, balanced on my nose between my eyes and my real glasses, my head tilted slightly to one side in a vain attempt to find focus. It isn’t easy to see things in a new way. But tomorrow I’m taking the Metro to the Mall, into the heart of the beltway. Maybe things will come into – or out of – focus there.