It’s my birthday today. Five years ago on this day, No 1 Son and I flew to Washington DC to celebrate, and we had the most wonderful trip. (I took this picture, which is one of my favourites, by the Lincoln Memorial – those are Lincoln’s feet).

Autumn is the perfect time to visit, because the fall colours in the States are amazing – there’s a reason people go ‘leaf-peeping’ in the US. Because the trees are SO big and there are SO many of them the foliage displays are just breathtaking – ochre and ruby-red and burnt orange and gold. When I was a kid I used to think that November was the worst time to have a birthday – cold, dark, too close to Christmas – but now I appreciate what a beautiful month it really is.

Of course it’s also Election Results Day in the US today (congratulations President Obama), and Remembrance Sunday this weekend.

So here are the photos I took of the Korean War Memorial and The Three Soldiers, which stands next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington five years ago.

They are incredibly powerful monuments, a reminder of the reality of war.

*This is my entry for The Gallery - the theme this week is autumn.