The inauguration!

`The day had finally come.

The excitement in the air is tangible. People are flocking to the nations capital from across these United States and from around the globe. Obama is in the house. The White House.

What started as a nine hour trip from Oxford to DC got extended to 11 hours by a wicked snow storm somewhere half way through. We arrived in the city about 5am exhausted but glad to have avoided the wretched traffic. Agent Ashley and Holly are on a new road trip. We packed cookies and fruit snacks, Gatorade and water and stopped for coffee in Columbus (double short caramel macchiato). We had made several song mixes and sang for hours. After two hours in blinding snow, a 30 minute nap in a bank parking lot and approximately 937 songs, we arrived in DC around 5am. We parked the car and carted our mountain of luggage into the apartment and were sleeping about 7 minutes later. It helps to arrive in your PJs.

We slept until noon and lazily moved about Chris' apartment making french toast and coffee. We felt able to function as human beings after eating and meandered out of the apartment around 2. We walked to the National Cathedral for a celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was an interesting and moving collection of of poetry, singing and speaking. The most moving was the violin solo by a high-school aged young man who paired his music with orchestra music and clips from MLK's 'I had a Dream Speech'. The music was so full of energy and emotion that he got a standing ovation half-way through the music. I was moved to happy tears. Everyone was glowing.

Agent Ashley, my brother Chris, several friends and I enjoyed an extended lunch at a French cafe and made plans for inauguration day. Since they involved getting up at 3:30 in the morning, we didn't stay up late.

3:30am. The multiple alarms we set go off. Sleep is inhibiting excitement for the time being, but that will change soon enough. We munch on some hard boiled eggs and coffee strong enough to chew (minimal liquids = minimal peeing) and put on our millions of layers. It is going to be a high in the mid 20's and we're going to be out in the cold for hours. By the time I'm finished with my layers, it is going to take any toots 30 minutes to emerge.

We call a cab to take us part way and they estimate 30-40 minutes. Five minutes later the cab arrives and we're not ready. We try to get them to bargain and start the meter and wait for us, but he refuses. We call the cab company and are on hold long enough for Chris to figure out how to play the jingle on his piano. Poor neighbors. The woman scolds Chris for not taking the first taxi "You should have been very happy to have that cab!". She promised to send another, but as he hangs up the phone, we can hear our order ticket being ripped to shreds, even from miles away. We call a second cab company and are also promised a cab. We're still waiting for both of them, two days later. After my second or third trip out to the balcony to cool off, we decide to head out on our own. We drive as far as Chris can and still use his parking pass, walk to the international spy museum to meet the rest of our group and march to the mall. It is dark, but we're moving fast and not feeling the cold. We pass army men and women in pairs of many of the street corners and the crowd gets more dense the closer we get to the mall. It is still in the dark of night, but the city is alive with the excitement of new years eve, mardi gras and christmas all rolled into one; there are folks selling t-shirts and buttons, corn dogs and bottled water. Part of our journey was along a underground bridge that is usually chock full of cars zooming along at 45 mph. Just before the mall, we follow a crowd squeezing through a small aisle between a fence and a church and several people begin mooing. We're a happy crowd.

We get to the mall expecting to go through a metal detector but weren't. I kind of wish I had been scanned. I guess I'll have to trust all of the snipers on the roofs. We stake out some ground behind one of the many jumbotrons and sit down to rest our legs after the hour hike across the city. We chat with the guys behind us from Wisconsin and could tell that the folks in front of us are from England. The world is watching as a beautiful sunrise unveils itself behind the white house. The stage has been set. We're ready.

At 9:00 am, a concert taking place on the Lincoln memorial is piped to the jumbotrons and we are all excited to have some music for entertainment and to dance to warm ourselves up a little. We've been outside for over four hours. Ashley and I try to get to the refreshment stands for some warm drinks. After fighting through the crowds for ever, we realize that there aren't even lines in front of the stands: it is a mob. We realize the futility of our goals and try to hike back to our little group. We wander through the crowd, some people letting us through, others not, but we can't find the group. Big shock, we're in the middle of millions of folks. I text my brother, but it takes several minutes to send "can't find u". When garth brooks begins to sing "shout", I think we'll be saved bacause the crowd should go down during the "little bit lower" part of the song, but garth skips it and we still can't see our group. Eventually the text goes through and I see a hat from our group perched high above the crowd on an american flag. We're saved. We sing. We dance. We eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.



A little after 11:30 the band strikes up several marches and I march in a circle to stay warm. The moment is almost here. The invocation is punctuated by moments of standing up and sitting down. The first time the speaker instructs the crowd to take a seat, all of us standing offer a loud groan. Aretha sings and looks like a big happy present with the giant bow on her head and Biden takes the oath of office for vice-president. Obama, who has gained the trust and faith of millions has reached higher than super star status. He also stumbled a bit on his oath, which we all loved because he seemed so much more human. And then his speech.

His speech was powerful, inspirational, wonderful. He was brave, he spoke as though he could have been talking to each person individually. He spoke of our past, of our future, and they way we must join together and work for the common good. He spoke to the leaders of countries rich and poor, peaceful and at war. He spoke to the world and the world was listening. How fantastic to be a present at this moment in history. It was amazing to consider this is the 44th change of power conducted in a peaceful manner. I have so much hope for the future of our nation.

We left the mall after Obama lifted our hearts. We were immediately stopped by the crush of folks trying to do exactly the same. Partway through the crush as we're inching forward, a woman begins to sing a hymn about not being able to turn back. As this is true both literally and figuratively and the crowd offers an appreciative giggle.

It takes two hours to hike through the crush to our friends apartment. My whole body and my mind is exhausted. It is a happy exhausted; the kind you might experience after a long day of skiing compined with four hours of dancing. We appreciatively chow down on hot soup and sandwiches and drink hot cocoa. About 17 seconds after sitting on the couch I fall asleep. I sleep through most of the televised parade and eventually we trek home to order pizza and sleep. What a happy, wonderful, fantastic day.

What a wonderful country.