of all the nations

Well, we're in Washington, D.C. We got in last night, driving from our show in Knoxville, so we actually got a few hours to walk around the capitol today and see some sights. I've always wanted to do that on the road, but we never seem to have time. I'm trying to get better about making smaller, more digestible video blogs. I'm determined to get some up before week's end.

We're crashing with my friend Beth Chapman here in D.C. It's always great to see Beth and she's exceedingly gracious about letting us crash with such late notice. With the election so close and politics palpably in the air, it's kind of crazy to be here. We even walked by Capitol Hill and they already had the yard blocked off for the presidential inauguration. We get so caught up in the RACE of the presidency, that it's difficult to spend much time thinking about the actual day-to-day nature of having the candidate in office. Might be a healthy mental exercise. :)

Emily Saliers and Amy Ray posted a new video of "Finlandia" that it brought it back to my memory. It seemed achingly timely. I SO long for a time and a nation who would tout this as their anthem:

this is my song
oh god of all the nations
a song of peace
for lands afar and mine

this is my home
the country where my heart is
here are my hopes
my dreams my holy shrine

but other hearts
in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams
as true and high as mine

my countries skies
are bluer than the ocean
and sunlight beams
on clover leaf and pine

but other lands
have sunlight too and clover
and skies are everywhere
as blue as mine

oh hear my song
oh god of all the nations
a song of peace
for their land and for mine