"A Day of Good Deeds"

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

Postal Museum 

William Shakespeare says it best, doesn’t he? I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a soft spot for good deeds, whether bestowed or received. I love the feeling I get when blessings are in the air, and thanks to Ms. Anna, we were able to feel it all day on the last MJ. Yep, that’s right! We had a day full of good deeds, and I sure wasn’t complaining!

Lol, sike, please guys, ease up! Y’all expect so much from me! I live in the first world, of course I complain!  Anyway, back to the journey. We arrived at our first stop, the Postal Museum at 10am! Did you even know the Smithsonian series had a museum dedicated to the history of mail!? I just learned this in February.  It officially opened as a museum July 30, 1993. Before a museum, this building served as the Washington D.C. post office from 1914-1986.  Get this: the museum is 100,000 square feet and only 35,000 square feet is dedicated to the exhibit space.  6,000 square feet of the space is dedicated to the research library, while further space includes a stamp store and a museum shop.  The floor level of the space features three suspended airmail planes, two mail trucks, a model train, and the front of an 18 wheeler truck! Hands- on is this museum’s middle name! The galleries on this floor tell the story of the history of mail in America. My favorite exhibit was the story of the well known U.S. Route 1 (US1), which runs from Maine to Florida, making it the longest north-south route in the United States.  It was formally an Indian trail, but people were looking for a faster way to get from New York to Massachusetts to deliver mail, so a man decided that he would explore this trail and leave slash marks on the trees for others to follow him in the future.  Well, he eventually found a way to the end safely, more people followed his footsteps, the trail became more popular, and it eventually became a major US highway! The end! I found this especially enthralling because I live on the east coast, and I have traveled Route 1 numerous times, so it was awesome to learn about it! It also included a “model route,” which was kind of like a forest that you walked through while following a path.  On the way to the end of the path, you could read the different plaques posted on the fake trees, so it was like you were exploring the beginnings of Route 1!

Curtis and our group! 

Spider press 

I also enjoyed reading about the different kinds of stamps and how they’ve been created throughout the years.  At one time, they were created on a device called a Spider Press, which used intaglio printing. (printing using an engraved plate.) It’s called a spider press because the wheel which pushes the plate and paper through the press consists of extremely long spokes that stick out like spider legs!  When this type of printing was used, there were very little to no mistakes ever. It was rare.  One famous mistake though is the upside down airplane.  This vintage rarity is extremely prominent and is now auctioned off every couple of years for major amounts of money. 

After the postal museum, we walked to Eastern Market, and this is where the good deeds came in! We brought a total of 21 lunches, which consisted of peanut butter and jellies, apple sauces, cookies, and chips and we handed them out to random people on the street! It was so much fun! The smiles on the people’s faces actually made me smile! It was so great to be reminded how such little things have huge impacts and effects on people’s days.  The conversation we had with some of the individuals was inspiring; especially the guy named Curtis! When we gave him his lunch, he says, “YES! Now y’all den saved me some money! I don’t hafta buy lunch now!” He worked at Eastern Market.  He was so fun to talk to, and he told us to come back to visit him.  We even were able to pray with him, which was very stirring.  When we gave out the lunches, we expected to make other people’s day, but actually for me I was touched and blessed, and I really enjoyed being able to make a difference  by doing something so small. 

Before heading to Eastern Market, we went to Capitol Hill Bookstore.  If you want to learn more about Eastern Market or Capitol Hill Bookstore, visit my former blog!  This time, we got to meet the owner at Capitol Hill Bookstore.  Let me tell y’all something; this man….was… hmm….he was…blunt? Let’s just say he was the definition of an old man with no filter.  Although I enjoyed talking to him, his manners were a little rusty, and I can see why some people don’t think he’s super agreeable. But hey! Because of him, I now know what “kick the can” means! Jim Toole, the owner, explained to us why his bookstore was in such danger.  Since his store is a used bookstore and not a NEW bookstore (whenever he said new he emphasized it like he was talking to little kids. sort of like “N-UUUUUU!” it was really annoying, but I enjoyed watching his lips curl up and his dentures come out of place whenever he said it.), it struggles and has a hard time competing with the NEW bookstores because publishers do not give him their books, but instead he has to find different used books from around the country to sell at his store.  Since a lot of people don’t really use used books, he has a hard time finding customers, and since Washington DC is developing, the property taxes rise, making it hard to afford the outrageous prices.  Ser brought up a good point when he said that sites like Capitol Hill Books provides and offers DC with the traits of culture and authenticity, so you would think more people would be helping to keep the store in business, but as the man said, “it’s always about money.”  If you can’t keep up with the Joneses, then you’re out.

vendor at Eastern Market 

Right across the street from the bookstore, sits Eastern Market. Before we went there, we met a guitarist, and he let us sing with him! Eliza-Jane apparently killed it as always!  Anyway, when we arrived at Eastern Market, it was pretty empty, which was weird because of how it is described on the weekends! If you want to want to know a little more about Eastern Market, check out my previous blog from the last time we visited there! It’s a good sized building with an aisle in the middle making a narrow hallway. Lined up on both walls on either side of the inside of building are different vendors selling cheeses, meats, vegetables, and many more types of food!  I think they sell more than just food because remember that guy Curtis? He told us he worked on the flower truck.  There’s even a lunch and breakfast place there that made crab cakes, burger, fries, pancakes, which smelled heavenly! At the end of the first room, there’s an open space where I suppose is a common place for nannies and their little children.  I don’t know if you know this, but, come closer, it’s a secret… closer…closer… *cups her hands around your ear* *whispers*… I love little children. (Now you understand why I don’t go yelling that around. It sounds preeetty creepy. I know.)  I want six of them when I get married, so as you can imagine, I was in heaven! They were just running around laughing, crying, screaming, and being cute.  It was a great place for me to eat lunch; however, I don’t know about how my class felt about it.

After lunch, we went to the Eastern Market Metro Station to street perform.  At first, we weren’t getting much attention.  Note to self: next time bring a sign explaining who we are. Ser was actually our hero this time! Thanks to him, we reached our goal of $40 because he used his charisma and charm and stopped people on the street to explain our organization and why we were singing.  You’re also probably wondering why we just randomly started to street perform. Well! If you must How you ask? Well! The money we made singing, we got to give to any random person we chose! Who did we give it to, you ask? The guitarist we met before, of course! It was the best feeling in the world to see him smile!

While talking to my mom about the day on the ride home, it really hit me how much a deed so small can have such an impact on not only the recipient but also the giver. Although I’m a typical first world child, and one of the reasons I may complain is needing to get the TV remote after I got comfortable, this experience, as well as many others in my life, really reminds me of just how blessed I am that I only have daily minute issues like seeing hair on the soap. I should appreciate my blessings more as well as share them and bless others.  This MJ was delightfully impacting.  Until next time, my loyal readers.