We, the Imperfect People
THAT JANUARY was exceptionally cold. Just out of college, I’d moved to DC where icebreakers would soon be at work on the partly frozen Potomac River. When I wasn’t looking for a job, I took advantage of Washington’s world-renowned cultural offerings, happily focusing on those that were free, open to the public, and indoors. It was an unimaginable luxury, and I had my pick. I wandered at will through the Smithsonian’s newly opened Air and Space Museum, original Castle building, and venerable National Museum of Natural History, which also became a great professional resource to me when I began working at this magazine. At the National Gallery of Art cafeteria, I splurged on a coffee just so I could sit, entranced, by the new Cascade waterfall installation outside its windows. Every…