Reflecting back

Now that I've had some time to catch my breath, catch up on work, and reflect on the inauguration, I'll add one final posting. If you are more into pictures than words, you might want to jump directly to my picasa site, which contains two albums of photos (some already in this blog, others not) and a short video clip of the crowd reaction as President Obama took the oath of office.

Gail Collins of the NY Times accurately characterized the inauguration as "Woodstock without the mud." It was about as friendly and mellow a crowd as I've experienced (and this from someone who has lost count of the Dead concerts he's attended). Imagine two million people jammed into a small area and zero arrests. Everyone seemed to recognize that they were both witnessing and participating in history; contented smiles were everywhere.

We were walking down to the Mall before the inauguration ceremony, a solid mass of people filling a four-lane city street from curb to curb, when we encountered concrete barriers requiring us to funnel through a narrow opening. There was no pushing or hassling, no anguish, and (somewhat surprising) no one in uniform trying to maintain order.

There were uniforms everywhere, but they were largely grinning and enjoying the day along with everyone else. When we went to the Metro station in suburban Maryland to ride downtown, there were local police and FBI standing around, but they were friendly and joking around with us. There were police from all over: at one Metro stop the patrollers were wearing uniforms of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit.

It wasn't just the uniformed presence that came from all over. The port-a-potties on the Mall (and, as the Washington Post observed, the area was "flush" with facilities) showed labels from all over the Eastern U.S. The day after the ceremony, we took our 15-year old niece to the D.C. Greyhound station for a ride home to Pittsburgh. While waiting with her in the packed station, we talked with folks who had traveled by bus from Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, even Los Angeles to be there. We heard a lot of "greatest day of my life" and "I only wish my dad had lived to see this day."

And we promised each other we'd all come back in four years for his second inauguration.

The Big Day

Early this morning, about two hours before we expected to arrive on the Mall, we had a call from our sister-in-law Jackie, an editor at Reuters, asking if we were there yet. She told us there were already about two million people assembled. Our ride downtown on the Metro was delayed by what turned out to be record-breaking ridership, so by the time we made it to the Mall things were quite crowded. The crowd extended all the way from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, a distance of over two miles. Temps were in the 20s.
As was the case for Sunday’s concert, the mood was one of excited anticipation and positive energy. People loudly cheered Obama and Biden; some booed when Bush and Cheney appeared on the screen. Both oaths of office were met with whoops of joy and tremendous applause.
After the ceremony we spent some time walking around downtown DC, enjoying the temporarily car-free streets and the festive mood. There were many vendors selling souvenirs, everything from posters, calendars, and bookmarks to buttons, shirts, hats, and scarves.

Inauguration pics #2

 
 
 
After the ceremony
 

Inauguration pics #1

 
 
 
It was cold!
 

We Are One concert, Sunday January 18

We joined a few hundred thousand of our closest friends for the We Are One pre-inaugural concert down on the Washington Mall yesterday. (In DC, the Mall isn't a shopping center, it's the mostly grassy and monument-filled strip that runs across the city from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.) Walking from the Metro to the Mall, past the White House, it was eerie to experience the streets devoid of cars and filled with pedestrians (the central city has been closed off to private traffic). Temps were in the low thirties, but it wasn't too windy and the snow held off.
The vibe and diversity of the crowd was tremendous. Everyone from the gray-haired to kids on shoulders, the full range of race and ethnicity, formal dress to grunge.
All sang along with Garth Brooks on American Pie, danced to Shout, sang along with Mary J. Blige on Lean on Me, with James Taylor on Shower the People, with Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger on This Land is Your Land.
Whenever the Jumbotron screens showed Obama (generally smiling and moving to the music), the crowd roared.
It seemed that everyone was taking pics and video, and many asked strangers to take pictures of family groups: We were there. When Obama spoke near the end, every camera and cell phone was clicking, even though we were about 3/4 of mile away.

We Are One concert pics, #1 (reposting)

Walking down to the concert, past the White House
 
 
 
 

We Are One concert pics, #2

While Obama was speaking

Ellen signing a souvenir shirt

After the concert

Ready, set, ...

Flying to DC Friday. Plans so far include the We Are One kickoff concert (with Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, and U2 among many others) at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall Sunday, day of community service for the MLK holiday on Monday, inauguration on Tuesday.

experimenting to learn this new tool

With Dave, Mark, and Bruce on Feather Pass, Aug 08