Kitty and I have been on the Mall way too long. So much has interfered with my finishing this blog about the trip to the Inauguration, but the time has come to set it free. Here's the wrap up.
Whatever organization and direction there might have been for people getting TO the Inauguration, it pretty much fell apart once the ceremony was over. Perhaps those helpful volunteers moved to the parade route. Unlike the second Clinton Inauguration, when it was easy to watch the Inaugural ceremony AND get to a place along the parade route, this event was an either/or situation. Kitty and I made the choice to head to the Mall for the ceremony, and it was the right one as far as we were concerned, even if it meant this old night owl had to get up at a time I usually think of as the middle of the night.
Our goal after the end of the ceremony was to find our way back to the hotel and watch the parade on TV from the comfort of our room. Problem was, we, along with a million or so other people, had no idea what route to take to get to the nearest open Metro station. We just started moving with the crowd. From time to time, hundreds of people would have to move SINGLE FILE between barriers to cross the street. Were we going the right way? Who knew? There were very few people visibly in charge. Occasionally we would see a friendly member of the military trying to help people, but most of them didn't seem to know the terrain or the best way to get the heck out of Dodge. We just kept moving. At one point, we realized we had moved far beyond the nearest Metro station in our effort to follow those who looked as if they knew where they were going. We'd hear that a station was open and head that way, only to hear other people say it was closed. We were tired, sore, hungry, and thirsty. We were also thrilled to be there. Hard to explain.
At one point, we decided to wait in the long line for a couple of hot dogs and some water at one of the vendor trucks. It was worth it. I can't remember how much the hot dogs cost (Kitty paid; thank you, Kitty), and they were pretty puny, but oh, did they hit the spot! With our strength fortified, we plunged ahead in search of the open Metro stop. Rumor had it that, like Shangri-La, it appeared at a particular time when the clouds parted and the sun showed the way. Can't remember which stop it was. L'Enfant Plaza? Federal Center? Smithsonian? Who knows?! We could very easily have been walking in circles. Despite the nomadic aspect to the journey, people still seemed to be in good spirits. Obama is President. Yep, it's true. Life is good. So we're tired, sore, and lost. Who cares?
Eventually we found the open Metro station. The huge crowd moved en masse toward the Metro station turnstiles, Everyone pushed forward, but we moved like cement pushing its way through a narrow tube. I HATE pushing and being pushed, and my goodwill was beginning to erode around the edges. The touchstone, though, was always, "Is this worth it?" And the answer was always, "Yes." It took about an hour for us to get from the outside of the Metro station into where the trains were. Finally we were on a train, standing and holding on to poles to keep from falling, heading back to Alexandria.
We were already crowded at the center of the city. At each stop, more people tried to pile on. By about the third or fourth stop, we began to tell people, "There's no more room. Sorry." At one stop, a young father with his baby slung across his chest responded to our "No room" cries with, "I've got to get my son on this train." Well, the kid was about 8 months' old, and cute, and somehow we made room for him. It turns out the father and his wife had driven up from North Carolina for the Inauguration, parked at one of the farthest Metro parking lots, and headed into town. Now they were trying to get back to the car. The mother had sent the father and baby on ahead, hoping to catch another train. The baby was amazingly good-natured about the crowds and all the fuss. He just kept watching the crazy grownups and recording events for his memoir. Some day, he'll be able to tell the tale of how he saw Barack Obama become President. Cool!
Finally back at our hotel, Kitty and I slouched on our beds and watched the parade on TV. We saw the Obamas leap out of their limo and walk along the parade route, appearing almost giddy with the joy of the occasion, the crowd returning the love. Bands marched and played, and the Obamas walked and waved. Kitty and I eventually headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. All around us were people who had been there, maybe on the Mall, maybe in the invitation-only sections, or maybe watching it on some big-screen TV in a hotel ballroom. We were all exhausted, sore, and happy.
I think I made it until 9:00 p.m. before I fell asleep watching the balls. Kitty managed to stay up a bit later. "At Last" played in the background. I couldn't have said it better.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Inauguration Day and the Red Hat Club
Inauguration Day Continued
Where was I? Ah, yes, Kitty and I were arriving at the Mall, along with hundreds of thousands of other early risers, only to find that others had beat us to it. Well, it's a big mall, and not every space was taken yet, so we headed for the closest Jumbotron screen. We found ourselves standing with a fine group of people, soon to become our BFFs. There were high-school kids sitting on a blanket, playing cards; there was a school teacher and her young children sleeping under blankets, clearly having arrived very early in the morning to get a good spot; there was a young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, wearing a jacket with huge M&M characters on it (you would have loved it, Camille!); and there were some wonderful church women from Chattanooga, TN, who welcomed us into their fold.
Since it was 7:00 a.m. when we got there, and the President wasn't being sworn in until noon, I sat on the ground from time to time to give my legs a rest. People were moving through the crowd constantly, since we were occupying a spot between more than a million people and the Port-O-Potties. Whenever I was on the ground, the women from Tennessee would instruct people to step carefully because "there's a woman sitting on the ground" (by this time, most of the kids were no longer sitting down). Then they'd check on me: "You OK, Mary? You OK, hon?" I was more than OK, cold and crowded as it was. I was smack dab in the middle of history and so thrilled to be there. Kitty managed to stand through the whole thing!
As we waited for the world to take a giant step into the future, we watched the video from Sunday's "We Are One" concert on the big screen. The entire crowd acted as if we were witnessing the concert live, cheering, clapping, singing along, and dancing. Everyone seemed to know the words to every song. Neither age, nor ethnicity, nor musical affiliation seemed to make a difference: we all knew the songs and sang along. Woodstock had nothing on us, my friends. It was one big musical love-in in four-part harmony! (I told you we were standing with some church women.) I don't think anything could top Stevie Wonder singing "Higher Ground" with Shakira and Usher, but millions of people singing "This land is your land this land is my land" together, led by Pete Seeger looking all the part of a magical gnome, was awesome, beyond description. Those words have never sounded so true as they did on Inauguration Day, and we sang jubilantly, a living "amen."
The biggest star in this rocking galaxy? That would have to be the President-Elect. Loud cheers for Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, and U2, but no roars could match those that greeted the President-Elect every time his name was mentioned. We were members of Barack Obama's biggest fan club. No dissenters for miles.
By about 10:00, the video switched to live coverage of people arriving for the Inauguration ceremony. Was that really Mohammed Ali, looking old and frail under that broad-brimmed black hat? Who else got the good seats? Martin Luther King III, Dustin Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman?), Gray Davis (OK, we're seeing the hand of the newly powerful Dianne Feinstein), the awesome Donna Brazile,, and John Lewis, American hero. Hard to remember who else was sitting in the places of honor, but it certainly wasn't anybody from Halliburton or Enron. The crowd warmed up as various VIPs were announced on the screen, and the sense of anticipation grew tangible. Who's that coming down the stairs? Military brass, the Supremes (justices, that is, not Diana and crew), senators, representatives. ("Come senators, congressman, please heed the call. Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled. There's a battle outside and it's ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin'." I just had to quote Old Bob, there, although it’s hard to protest when the world is harmonically converging.)
Military marches play, and flags wave across the Mall, as people look at each other and smile in unrepressed glee. I stand now, knowing that the opportunity to sit has passed as the crowd grows, taking up every square foot of space. Barney Frank is recognized on screen by one of the women from Chattanooga, who smiles at Kitty. “There’s one of your guys,” she says, paying homage to Kitty’s Boston home turf. I get credit for both California and Oregon connections, not that anyone recognizes the senators or reps from Oregon. Teddy Kennedy gets a big roar of approval from the crowd as he appears on screen. “He looks good!” we all agree hopefully.
I’m not sure if those watching this on TV noticed, but it was very clear from the video feed on the Jumbotron: There was a live mike near where the dignitaries exited the Capitol to take their seats. I kept waiting for someone to say something truly embarrassing. My hopes were particularly high when George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush walked down the steps, but no such luck.
When President Bush is announced, some in the crowd boo. “C’mon, people,” Kitty admonishes. “We don’t need to boo. That’s disrespectful.” Kitty is no fan of W. In fact, she can’t stand the guy. But she was absolutely right. “I didn’t like it when people booed Obama when he was mentioned at the Republican Convention, and I don’t think it’s right for us to boo Bush now,” Kitty explains. Luckily the momentary booing passes quickly and the crowd continues to watch and listen in a spirit of bonhomie. Cheney appears in a wheelchair
When the Obama family is announced, the crowd cheers joyously. And then it’s “the President-Elect of the United States, Barack H. Obama,” and people whistle, shout, clap, stomp their feet. Those with flags wave them wildly. Woo hoo!!! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! Paul McCartney, eat your heart out.
Observations on the Ceremony
DiFi (SF insider name for Dianne Feinstein) quote: “No triumph tainted by brutality could ever match the sweet victory of this hour, and what it means to those who marched and died to make it a reality…[Future generations] will look back and remember that this was the moment when the dream that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial finally reached the walls of the White House.” That’s right. It’s not the fulfillment of the dream, because the dream goes beyond this moment, but so far the dream has led us to this day that so many who witness it thought would never happen in our lifetime.
On Rick Warren’s invocation: Such empty platitudes about love and inclusiveness from a man who has compared gay marriage to bestiality and worked so hard to keep rights from American citizens. “When we fail to treat our fellow human beings with all the respect they deserve, forgive us,” he implored God. Indeed. Kitty turned her back. I studied his face for some sort of transformative self-reflection, but I didn’t see it. Then he had the nerve to end his invocation with the Lord’s Prayer, a solely Christian prayer that even Christians can’t agree on how to say. I’m not knocking the Lord’s Prayer. It has great meaning to me, no matter which version. However, saying it as part of the swearing in of the President of the United States suddenly creates a Christians-only moment that is inappropriate. Quite telling that the audience chose, for the most part, not to say it along with “Pastor Rick.” President-Elect Obama’s lips stayed still. I believe he understood why it would be wrong to say it then. However, I’ll bet rumors will fly all over the Internet that Obama “refuses to say the Lord’s Prayer.”
There is laughter across the Mall whenever anyone says, “Will you all please stand?” As if we had a choice, we all thought, but in a good-natured way, enjoying the humor of it all.
Question: Since Biden was sworn in as Vice-President before Obama was sworn in, is he actually President for a minute and a half? Let’s see if THAT one shows up on the Internet.
Re Chief Justice Roberts’s flub. Was he trying to avoid splitting a verb from its auxillary (“I will faithfully execute” vs. I will execute…faithfully”) as was posited by someone at the NY Times (and who else but the Times would have posited such an explanation?) ? Obama pauses to let Roberts correct himself, but it gets even more confusing, and Obama gamely goes on .
DiFi announces Obama as the President of the United States. There is crazy cheering and flag-waving and chants of O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! We all cry, moved by joy and amazement at the import of this occasion. We hug. We pass out tissues. We applaud and dance and jump up and down. “We did it!” we tell each other. “We did it. Yes we did!”
And then the speech. Such depth President Obama shows in the words he chooses to address the nation and the world. It’s not a speech filled with sound bites, but rather a speech made up of words carefully chosen to deliver his message. We face hard times. No denial there. But we as a country have faced hard times before, and we have come through. It is a time for unity, not division. We reach our hand out to the rest of the world and invite dialogue. Oh, what a welcome change from the last eight years. Highlights: “The time has come…to chose our better history.” “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.” “The question is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.” Amen and hallelujah!
Elizabeth Alexander’s poem: beautiful imagery. Reminded me of Whitman’s poems with their references and images of everyday people in everyday moments.
Rev. Joseph Lowery’s closing prayer/benediction was wonderful. The first part was from “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (thanks, Rick, for identifying it), AKA the “Negro national anthem.” And then those words from the Civil Rights Movement: “Help us work for that day when ‘black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, when white will do right.’ Let everybody say ‘Amen.’” Amen!
And then I sang the national anthem for all I was worth.
I grew up in a time when the American flag and patriotic songs were used to divide people. In the fifties, they were ways to separate the “real Americans” from the commies. In the sixties, they were signs of your belief in “America right or wrong” and the sentiment “America: love it or leave it.” I have finally come to embrace the Fourth of July (thank you, Boston, for making it real) and have been known to sing along with the Pops on “You’re a Grand Old Flag” after a couple glasses of wine. But patriotism has always made me nervous. On this Inauguration Day, I felt happy to be an American. Hell, I actually felt proud to be an American. Yes I did. Yes we did. An amazing experience. An amazing moment of grace.
About the Weather
Yes, it was COLD. But the sun shone, and the wind wasn’t too bad, or if it was, who could feel it with all those people around you (taller people might not agree with me on this)? Luckily, I was wearing very warm clothes, including faux-fur-lined Uggs knock-offs that were both warm and comfortable. Nonetheless, my toes were a bit frozen after standing in the cold for six hours. My gloves kept my fingers warm, for the most part, and my red knit hat, despite its tendency to slide up as time passed, kept my body heat from leaking out of the top of my head.
About the Red Hat Club
I was being facetious when I told people to “look for the red hat” if they wanted to see me on TV. I had no idea just how facetious that turned out to be. As soon as I got above ground from the early morning Metro ride, I saw that all the volunteers, those who stood in the cold morning air, telling us to keep going and happily starting “Obama” chants, were wearing red knit hats. So were the San Francisco Girls Chorus members. So was every fifth face in the crowd. And so was Mrs. Robinson, Michelle Obama’s mother. My red hat didn’t narrow it down much, but at least I was in fine company!
Nasty Thought 1
Cheney in the wheelchair was a dead ringer for Dr. Strangelove. After his expansion of the Veep’s power, maybe the only way they were going to get Cheney out of the White House was to strap him to a wheelchair and wheel him out.
Nasty Thought 2
Do you think George and Barbara Bush were wearing purple scarves to demonstrate their solidarity with Bishop Gene Robinson? Naaah. I didn’t think so. It was a decidedly bishop-like purple, though.
Stay Tuned
My next entry will show just how powerful the glow was in the face of a miserable wandering journey to exit the Mall, find an open Metro station, get on the Metro, and get back to the hotel to watch the parade, all on one bottle of water and a street-vendor hot dog. (I never got to have breakfast, nor did I find water before we got to the Mall. Probably just as well, since I never did have to use one of the dreaded Port-O-Potties.
Where was I? Ah, yes, Kitty and I were arriving at the Mall, along with hundreds of thousands of other early risers, only to find that others had beat us to it. Well, it's a big mall, and not every space was taken yet, so we headed for the closest Jumbotron screen. We found ourselves standing with a fine group of people, soon to become our BFFs. There were high-school kids sitting on a blanket, playing cards; there was a school teacher and her young children sleeping under blankets, clearly having arrived very early in the morning to get a good spot; there was a young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, wearing a jacket with huge M&M characters on it (you would have loved it, Camille!); and there were some wonderful church women from Chattanooga, TN, who welcomed us into their fold.
Since it was 7:00 a.m. when we got there, and the President wasn't being sworn in until noon, I sat on the ground from time to time to give my legs a rest. People were moving through the crowd constantly, since we were occupying a spot between more than a million people and the Port-O-Potties. Whenever I was on the ground, the women from Tennessee would instruct people to step carefully because "there's a woman sitting on the ground" (by this time, most of the kids were no longer sitting down). Then they'd check on me: "You OK, Mary? You OK, hon?" I was more than OK, cold and crowded as it was. I was smack dab in the middle of history and so thrilled to be there. Kitty managed to stand through the whole thing!
As we waited for the world to take a giant step into the future, we watched the video from Sunday's "We Are One" concert on the big screen. The entire crowd acted as if we were witnessing the concert live, cheering, clapping, singing along, and dancing. Everyone seemed to know the words to every song. Neither age, nor ethnicity, nor musical affiliation seemed to make a difference: we all knew the songs and sang along. Woodstock had nothing on us, my friends. It was one big musical love-in in four-part harmony! (I told you we were standing with some church women.) I don't think anything could top Stevie Wonder singing "Higher Ground" with Shakira and Usher, but millions of people singing "This land is your land this land is my land" together, led by Pete Seeger looking all the part of a magical gnome, was awesome, beyond description. Those words have never sounded so true as they did on Inauguration Day, and we sang jubilantly, a living "amen."
The biggest star in this rocking galaxy? That would have to be the President-Elect. Loud cheers for Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, and U2, but no roars could match those that greeted the President-Elect every time his name was mentioned. We were members of Barack Obama's biggest fan club. No dissenters for miles.
By about 10:00, the video switched to live coverage of people arriving for the Inauguration ceremony. Was that really Mohammed Ali, looking old and frail under that broad-brimmed black hat? Who else got the good seats? Martin Luther King III, Dustin Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman?), Gray Davis (OK, we're seeing the hand of the newly powerful Dianne Feinstein), the awesome Donna Brazile,, and John Lewis, American hero. Hard to remember who else was sitting in the places of honor, but it certainly wasn't anybody from Halliburton or Enron. The crowd warmed up as various VIPs were announced on the screen, and the sense of anticipation grew tangible. Who's that coming down the stairs? Military brass, the Supremes (justices, that is, not Diana and crew), senators, representatives. ("Come senators, congressman, please heed the call. Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled. There's a battle outside and it's ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin'." I just had to quote Old Bob, there, although it’s hard to protest when the world is harmonically converging.)
Military marches play, and flags wave across the Mall, as people look at each other and smile in unrepressed glee. I stand now, knowing that the opportunity to sit has passed as the crowd grows, taking up every square foot of space. Barney Frank is recognized on screen by one of the women from Chattanooga, who smiles at Kitty. “There’s one of your guys,” she says, paying homage to Kitty’s Boston home turf. I get credit for both California and Oregon connections, not that anyone recognizes the senators or reps from Oregon. Teddy Kennedy gets a big roar of approval from the crowd as he appears on screen. “He looks good!” we all agree hopefully.
I’m not sure if those watching this on TV noticed, but it was very clear from the video feed on the Jumbotron: There was a live mike near where the dignitaries exited the Capitol to take their seats. I kept waiting for someone to say something truly embarrassing. My hopes were particularly high when George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush walked down the steps, but no such luck.
When President Bush is announced, some in the crowd boo. “C’mon, people,” Kitty admonishes. “We don’t need to boo. That’s disrespectful.” Kitty is no fan of W. In fact, she can’t stand the guy. But she was absolutely right. “I didn’t like it when people booed Obama when he was mentioned at the Republican Convention, and I don’t think it’s right for us to boo Bush now,” Kitty explains. Luckily the momentary booing passes quickly and the crowd continues to watch and listen in a spirit of bonhomie. Cheney appears in a wheelchair
When the Obama family is announced, the crowd cheers joyously. And then it’s “the President-Elect of the United States, Barack H. Obama,” and people whistle, shout, clap, stomp their feet. Those with flags wave them wildly. Woo hoo!!! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! Paul McCartney, eat your heart out.
Observations on the Ceremony
DiFi (SF insider name for Dianne Feinstein) quote: “No triumph tainted by brutality could ever match the sweet victory of this hour, and what it means to those who marched and died to make it a reality…[Future generations] will look back and remember that this was the moment when the dream that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial finally reached the walls of the White House.” That’s right. It’s not the fulfillment of the dream, because the dream goes beyond this moment, but so far the dream has led us to this day that so many who witness it thought would never happen in our lifetime.
On Rick Warren’s invocation: Such empty platitudes about love and inclusiveness from a man who has compared gay marriage to bestiality and worked so hard to keep rights from American citizens. “When we fail to treat our fellow human beings with all the respect they deserve, forgive us,” he implored God. Indeed. Kitty turned her back. I studied his face for some sort of transformative self-reflection, but I didn’t see it. Then he had the nerve to end his invocation with the Lord’s Prayer, a solely Christian prayer that even Christians can’t agree on how to say. I’m not knocking the Lord’s Prayer. It has great meaning to me, no matter which version. However, saying it as part of the swearing in of the President of the United States suddenly creates a Christians-only moment that is inappropriate. Quite telling that the audience chose, for the most part, not to say it along with “Pastor Rick.” President-Elect Obama’s lips stayed still. I believe he understood why it would be wrong to say it then. However, I’ll bet rumors will fly all over the Internet that Obama “refuses to say the Lord’s Prayer.”
There is laughter across the Mall whenever anyone says, “Will you all please stand?” As if we had a choice, we all thought, but in a good-natured way, enjoying the humor of it all.
Question: Since Biden was sworn in as Vice-President before Obama was sworn in, is he actually President for a minute and a half? Let’s see if THAT one shows up on the Internet.
Re Chief Justice Roberts’s flub. Was he trying to avoid splitting a verb from its auxillary (“I will faithfully execute” vs. I will execute…faithfully”) as was posited by someone at the NY Times (and who else but the Times would have posited such an explanation?) ? Obama pauses to let Roberts correct himself, but it gets even more confusing, and Obama gamely goes on .
DiFi announces Obama as the President of the United States. There is crazy cheering and flag-waving and chants of O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! We all cry, moved by joy and amazement at the import of this occasion. We hug. We pass out tissues. We applaud and dance and jump up and down. “We did it!” we tell each other. “We did it. Yes we did!”
And then the speech. Such depth President Obama shows in the words he chooses to address the nation and the world. It’s not a speech filled with sound bites, but rather a speech made up of words carefully chosen to deliver his message. We face hard times. No denial there. But we as a country have faced hard times before, and we have come through. It is a time for unity, not division. We reach our hand out to the rest of the world and invite dialogue. Oh, what a welcome change from the last eight years. Highlights: “The time has come…to chose our better history.” “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.” “The question is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.” Amen and hallelujah!
Elizabeth Alexander’s poem: beautiful imagery. Reminded me of Whitman’s poems with their references and images of everyday people in everyday moments.
Rev. Joseph Lowery’s closing prayer/benediction was wonderful. The first part was from “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (thanks, Rick, for identifying it), AKA the “Negro national anthem.” And then those words from the Civil Rights Movement: “Help us work for that day when ‘black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, when white will do right.’ Let everybody say ‘Amen.’” Amen!
And then I sang the national anthem for all I was worth.
I grew up in a time when the American flag and patriotic songs were used to divide people. In the fifties, they were ways to separate the “real Americans” from the commies. In the sixties, they were signs of your belief in “America right or wrong” and the sentiment “America: love it or leave it.” I have finally come to embrace the Fourth of July (thank you, Boston, for making it real) and have been known to sing along with the Pops on “You’re a Grand Old Flag” after a couple glasses of wine. But patriotism has always made me nervous. On this Inauguration Day, I felt happy to be an American. Hell, I actually felt proud to be an American. Yes I did. Yes we did. An amazing experience. An amazing moment of grace.
About the Weather
Yes, it was COLD. But the sun shone, and the wind wasn’t too bad, or if it was, who could feel it with all those people around you (taller people might not agree with me on this)? Luckily, I was wearing very warm clothes, including faux-fur-lined Uggs knock-offs that were both warm and comfortable. Nonetheless, my toes were a bit frozen after standing in the cold for six hours. My gloves kept my fingers warm, for the most part, and my red knit hat, despite its tendency to slide up as time passed, kept my body heat from leaking out of the top of my head.
About the Red Hat Club
I was being facetious when I told people to “look for the red hat” if they wanted to see me on TV. I had no idea just how facetious that turned out to be. As soon as I got above ground from the early morning Metro ride, I saw that all the volunteers, those who stood in the cold morning air, telling us to keep going and happily starting “Obama” chants, were wearing red knit hats. So were the San Francisco Girls Chorus members. So was every fifth face in the crowd. And so was Mrs. Robinson, Michelle Obama’s mother. My red hat didn’t narrow it down much, but at least I was in fine company!
Nasty Thought 1
Cheney in the wheelchair was a dead ringer for Dr. Strangelove. After his expansion of the Veep’s power, maybe the only way they were going to get Cheney out of the White House was to strap him to a wheelchair and wheel him out.
Nasty Thought 2
Do you think George and Barbara Bush were wearing purple scarves to demonstrate their solidarity with Bishop Gene Robinson? Naaah. I didn’t think so. It was a decidedly bishop-like purple, though.
Stay Tuned
My next entry will show just how powerful the glow was in the face of a miserable wandering journey to exit the Mall, find an open Metro station, get on the Metro, and get back to the hotel to watch the parade, all on one bottle of water and a street-vendor hot dog. (I never got to have breakfast, nor did I find water before we got to the Mall. Probably just as well, since I never did have to use one of the dreaded Port-O-Potties.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Watch This Space
Hi, all.
Due to technical difficulties (my computer isn't charging for some reason), I won't be able to complete the Inauguration entries until I get back to Oregon sometime this week. I did finally make it back to SFO on Friday and am in Aptos clearing out my condo. Still floating on the spirit of change and hope. Stay tuned.
Due to technical difficulties (my computer isn't charging for some reason), I won't be able to complete the Inauguration entries until I get back to Oregon sometime this week. I did finally make it back to SFO on Friday and am in Aptos clearing out my condo. Still floating on the spirit of change and hope. Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Day
I was up by 5:00 the morning of the Inauguration, and Kitty was up before that! We caught the first hotel shuttle to the Metro, which was already packed at 6:15, and headed into the city. Everyone on the train was chatty, friendly, excited. A few poor souls were trying to get to work, including some hospital workers who really didn't have any choice. Instead of being annoyed by the flood of out-of-towners who were slowing down their commute, they were kindly offering insider info and advice on Metro stops. Word was to get off at L'Enfant Plaza to get to a good place on the Mall. No problem telling which station was L'Enfant, since almost everyone got off there.
We moved in a flood of people leaving the trains and heading for the Mall. Some disenchanted people were trying to buck the tide and head back to the trains, saying there was nowhere to stand and no way to see. They were heading back. We just couldn't imagine anything that could make us turn back at 7:00 a.m., but we emerged from the Metro station with some anxiety about what we would find.
What we found were thousands of people already standing on the Mall.
(To be continued! I'm still in DC, staying at the Dulles Hilton, since I couldn't get out on the planned flight tonight. Too many standbys! However, I must get to sleep so I can get up in time to get out on one of the early flights. I promise to try to finish this on the plane tomorrow)
We moved in a flood of people leaving the trains and heading for the Mall. Some disenchanted people were trying to buck the tide and head back to the trains, saying there was nowhere to stand and no way to see. They were heading back. We just couldn't imagine anything that could make us turn back at 7:00 a.m., but we emerged from the Metro station with some anxiety about what we would find.
What we found were thousands of people already standing on the Mall.
(To be continued! I'm still in DC, staying at the Dulles Hilton, since I couldn't get out on the planned flight tonight. Too many standbys! However, I must get to sleep so I can get up in time to get out on one of the early flights. I promise to try to finish this on the plane tomorrow)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Obama Is President!
Yay!!! What a day! What a thrill to be there. It was fabulous, beyond exciting, and transformational. It was also exhausting. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until tomorrow to tell you all about it.
Until then, sleep well, knowing that our man is in the White House. Hooray!
mmm
Until then, sleep well, knowing that our man is in the White House. Hooray!
mmm
Monday, January 19, 2009
Hello from DC!
Well, I made it on the plane on Sunday morning, but only just. I was flying standby, so when I got to the gate, I checked the standby list on the screen. There was my name, just low enough on the list to keep me guessing, but high enough to keep me hopeful. I went across from the gate and got some coffee to go. Checked the list again, and my name was still there. Time to get a paper to read on the plane. Got the paper. Checked the list. My name was still there, but lower on the list. Hmmm. Wasn't sure why that happened. Next thing I know, they closed the gate. Whoops! Thanks to the kindness of an agent who took pity on me, I was able to get a boarding pass and on the plane. Turns out they called my name and I didn't hear it. All of this for a lousy Chronicle!
I sat way in the back in a middle seat, something that would normally make me miserable, but there was such a festive feel on the plane, everyone clearly heading for the Inauguration and excited as hell about doing that. I ended up in a great conversation with the fellow sitting next to me, Doug Hammond (hi, Doug!), who is the Executive Director of Balle (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies). Interesting stuff. Check out their Web site: livingeconomies.org.
I took a Super Shuttle from Dulles to the hotel. The drive packed a zillion people in the van and proceeded to stop at just about every town between Dulles and DC. It took forever, but was much cheaper than a cab. There were people from London, Minnesota, Chicago, and Oakland on the van, and we were all giddy with hunger, travel-weariness, and excitement. I was starving by the time I got to the hotel, but the ride just played right into the "We Are Family" soundtrack that has been going through my brain.
Kitty and I are on the 30th floor of a Hilton in Alexandria. The hotel is filled with Obama fans. Everywhere you look, there are people of all ages wearing buttons, sweatshirts, backpacks, hats, and T-shirts proclaiming their joy in his election. It's like being a part of a huge cult, but in a good way.
There's a hotel shuttle that takes you to the Metro stop, so this morning Kitty and I headed into town, stopping at Arlington Cemetery. Such a beautiful, sad, stirring, angering place. So many bodies given up to war. We found Thurgood Marshall's headstone. On the front was the pertinent information re his dates and his status as Supreme Court Justice. On the back it read, "Marshall" with "Civil Rights Advocate" below. Indeed.
JFK's grave, with it's eternal flame, was very moving, but even more powerful was the modest simplicity of Bobby Kennedy's simple stone plaque and small white cross. It seemed so fitting, somehow, for a man whose greatness can only be guessed at because of the earliness of his death.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the Mall area, starting at the Lincoln Memorial. We made the mistake of getting tickets for a tour bus service that we could get on and off, theoretically, to see the sights. The problem was, we never found another stop to get back on. We wandered in search of the White House, eventually found Blair House, saw a crowd who had just seen Obama go into Blair House 20 minutes earlier. We waited for about 30-40 minutes, getting excited every time a secret service agent moved near one of the cars, but nothing happened until someone saw David Axelrod, AKA He Who Helped Orchestrate This Wonderful Miracle, at which point everyone rushed him as if he were Mick Jagger, surrounding him with smiles, flashing phones and cameras, and outstretched hands to shake. Kitty got to shake his hand and thank him for his amazing work during the election. Go, Kitty! Al Sharpton was also spotted nearby, but it's a testimony to the absolute political geekiness of this town right now that David Axelrod engendered more excitement.
Wearily, we finally made our way to a Metro stop, after we failed to make any sense WHATSOEVER of the tour bus stop map. Once we got to Alexandria, after yet another conversation about how great it was to be here, this time with a teacher from Illinois who actually had tickets from her Rep for SEATS at the swearing in. I thought briefly of mugging her, since I'm getting just a little tired of these "You wouldn't believe how we got tickets to ____ [the swearing in, the parade, a ball, or all three]" stories.
Old Alexandria has a free on-and-off trolley system that, unlike our friends at the tour bus company, actually provides frequent, clearly marked stops all over the Old Town section. We trolleyed to the Fish Market, had drinks and po' boys (yummy) and then trolleyed back to get the hotel shuttle at the Metro stop.
Now it's early to bed so we can get up at 5:00 (honest!) tomorrow morning to get to Somewhere on the Mall where we can see things on a Jumbotron. Insane, you betcha, but well worth it.
More tomorrow. Forgive any typos. I'm too tired to proof, and I can't trust Spell Check, which is highlighting the Mick in Mick Jagger, but not the Jagger (what's up with that?) and doesn't much care for Axelrod, Sharpton, or betch, but is probably missing egregious errors that will make people think less of me. Oh well. It's a new day, kinder, more understanding, less judgmental, no?
Look for the red ski cap!
I sat way in the back in a middle seat, something that would normally make me miserable, but there was such a festive feel on the plane, everyone clearly heading for the Inauguration and excited as hell about doing that. I ended up in a great conversation with the fellow sitting next to me, Doug Hammond (hi, Doug!), who is the Executive Director of Balle (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies). Interesting stuff. Check out their Web site: livingeconomies.org.
I took a Super Shuttle from Dulles to the hotel. The drive packed a zillion people in the van and proceeded to stop at just about every town between Dulles and DC. It took forever, but was much cheaper than a cab. There were people from London, Minnesota, Chicago, and Oakland on the van, and we were all giddy with hunger, travel-weariness, and excitement. I was starving by the time I got to the hotel, but the ride just played right into the "We Are Family" soundtrack that has been going through my brain.
Kitty and I are on the 30th floor of a Hilton in Alexandria. The hotel is filled with Obama fans. Everywhere you look, there are people of all ages wearing buttons, sweatshirts, backpacks, hats, and T-shirts proclaiming their joy in his election. It's like being a part of a huge cult, but in a good way.
There's a hotel shuttle that takes you to the Metro stop, so this morning Kitty and I headed into town, stopping at Arlington Cemetery. Such a beautiful, sad, stirring, angering place. So many bodies given up to war. We found Thurgood Marshall's headstone. On the front was the pertinent information re his dates and his status as Supreme Court Justice. On the back it read, "Marshall" with "Civil Rights Advocate" below. Indeed.
JFK's grave, with it's eternal flame, was very moving, but even more powerful was the modest simplicity of Bobby Kennedy's simple stone plaque and small white cross. It seemed so fitting, somehow, for a man whose greatness can only be guessed at because of the earliness of his death.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the Mall area, starting at the Lincoln Memorial. We made the mistake of getting tickets for a tour bus service that we could get on and off, theoretically, to see the sights. The problem was, we never found another stop to get back on. We wandered in search of the White House, eventually found Blair House, saw a crowd who had just seen Obama go into Blair House 20 minutes earlier. We waited for about 30-40 minutes, getting excited every time a secret service agent moved near one of the cars, but nothing happened until someone saw David Axelrod, AKA He Who Helped Orchestrate This Wonderful Miracle, at which point everyone rushed him as if he were Mick Jagger, surrounding him with smiles, flashing phones and cameras, and outstretched hands to shake. Kitty got to shake his hand and thank him for his amazing work during the election. Go, Kitty! Al Sharpton was also spotted nearby, but it's a testimony to the absolute political geekiness of this town right now that David Axelrod engendered more excitement.
Wearily, we finally made our way to a Metro stop, after we failed to make any sense WHATSOEVER of the tour bus stop map. Once we got to Alexandria, after yet another conversation about how great it was to be here, this time with a teacher from Illinois who actually had tickets from her Rep for SEATS at the swearing in. I thought briefly of mugging her, since I'm getting just a little tired of these "You wouldn't believe how we got tickets to ____ [the swearing in, the parade, a ball, or all three]" stories.
Old Alexandria has a free on-and-off trolley system that, unlike our friends at the tour bus company, actually provides frequent, clearly marked stops all over the Old Town section. We trolleyed to the Fish Market, had drinks and po' boys (yummy) and then trolleyed back to get the hotel shuttle at the Metro stop.
Now it's early to bed so we can get up at 5:00 (honest!) tomorrow morning to get to Somewhere on the Mall where we can see things on a Jumbotron. Insane, you betcha, but well worth it.
More tomorrow. Forgive any typos. I'm too tired to proof, and I can't trust Spell Check, which is highlighting the Mick in Mick Jagger, but not the Jagger (what's up with that?) and doesn't much care for Axelrod, Sharpton, or betch, but is probably missing egregious errors that will make people think less of me. Oh well. It's a new day, kinder, more understanding, less judgmental, no?
Look for the red ski cap!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Heading to DC for the Inauguration
Hi, everyone. It was hard to decide which blog to post this to: Barack Obama: He's the One, or the Further Adventures of mmm. Both apply, but Obama won! Yes he did!
As an act of faith last June, I booked a couple of rooms in Alexandria, VA, for three nights during the Inauguration. I was sure (most of the time) that this day would come. I am so excited to be going. I'm flying out of SFO, so tonight I'm staying with my friends Rob and Mark. I fly out tomorrow (Sunday), with any luck. My friend Earl was kind enough to give me a companion pass for United (thank you, Mr. Earl!), which cuts down on the travel costs considerably. The only hitch is that I'm flying stand-by, so it may take a couple of tries before I get on. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I drove down from Oregon today, listening to CNN on the radio the whole way. My main conclusion? I don't think I've packed enough Kleenex! Every time someone started talking about what this day meant to him or her, I'd get choked up. What an incredible groundswell of excitement this country is experiencing. And it's not just felt here in the States. How the world must be sighing with collective relief to see the last of the Bush administration!
My friend Kitty Baker is joining me in DC. Kitty and I spent a lot of time during the primaries and the election on the phone and e-mailing, saying "Yes, we can!" until we believed it, so she's just the perfect person to share this experience with. We have tickets to absolutely nothing, but we don't care. We'll just be happy to be a part of this historic and uplifting occasion.
I promise to write more over the next few days. Look for the woman in the red ski cap if you're watching the tube coverage. That will be me.
mmm
As an act of faith last June, I booked a couple of rooms in Alexandria, VA, for three nights during the Inauguration. I was sure (most of the time) that this day would come. I am so excited to be going. I'm flying out of SFO, so tonight I'm staying with my friends Rob and Mark. I fly out tomorrow (Sunday), with any luck. My friend Earl was kind enough to give me a companion pass for United (thank you, Mr. Earl!), which cuts down on the travel costs considerably. The only hitch is that I'm flying stand-by, so it may take a couple of tries before I get on. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I drove down from Oregon today, listening to CNN on the radio the whole way. My main conclusion? I don't think I've packed enough Kleenex! Every time someone started talking about what this day meant to him or her, I'd get choked up. What an incredible groundswell of excitement this country is experiencing. And it's not just felt here in the States. How the world must be sighing with collective relief to see the last of the Bush administration!
My friend Kitty Baker is joining me in DC. Kitty and I spent a lot of time during the primaries and the election on the phone and e-mailing, saying "Yes, we can!" until we believed it, so she's just the perfect person to share this experience with. We have tickets to absolutely nothing, but we don't care. We'll just be happy to be a part of this historic and uplifting occasion.
I promise to write more over the next few days. Look for the woman in the red ski cap if you're watching the tube coverage. That will be me.
mmm
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