On Roosevelt Island

Just yards away from a toy-sized island in the Potomac River, cars whizz by on the parkway. The government buildings of Washington rise on the other side of the river. But on this little island, the memorial to our twenty-sixth president seems removed from all that. Monolithic slabs of stone offer quotes from Teddy Roosevelt on some of his most beloved subjects. Many of our national parks exist because of Roosevelt. Here, surrounded by a network of winter branches, we are reminded of what is important and must be preserved in the world.