The March of the Tulips

We loaded up the bikes and headed down Columbia Pike to DC today. We just wanted to bike around the White House and Tidal Basin and take in the spring day with the rest of humanity who had the same Sunday plan.

The cherry blossoms were toast by now but the tulips were in prime form. We spotted this lovely carpet of red near The Elipse.

We also crossed paths with two protest marches. The first one was right in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. These folks were trying to draw attention to a massacre they claim occurred at Camp Ashraf in Iraq just a couple of days ago.

The second group we encountered was marching down 17^th Street by Farragut Square. This group was calling for the closure of the School of the Americas at Fort Benning. The protesters were calling it a training center for terrorism.

The funny thing is that, judging from what we witnessed at both marches, the majority of bystanders didn’t have a clue as to what these protests were all about. I overheard things like “What flag is that?” and “What’s SOA?”

I also heard a couple of  excitedly exclaim “Hey cool, a protest!”

That being said, I suspect that these marches will reach a much larger and more empathetic audience later thanks to You Tube.