Inauguration Station

The stated reason for waking up at 6:00 AM was to follow Jim down to the mall and to take a contest-entry-worthy photo of the festivities that engulf this town every four years. Even as I pulled on my long johns and threw my camera bag over my shoulder I knew that photos were secondary to something else.

I walked through the dark and found the streets mostly empty of cars and populated with growing foot traffic. There was energy in the air, but it was more relaxed than the energy of four years ago.

This was my third inauguration, but my first chance to walk into history. As we wound around and around and around the security barriers, it turned out that walking into history was more circuitous than I'd expected. The crowds came together into a mass and then shed a bit at each entrance for the ticketed. After an hour of walking, we finally reached the crush of general public making their way onto the National Mall.

A mere four hours from the ceremony and the big screen TVs were already playing reruns and Ellen jokes. It was the first round of several. The crowd looked large, but again not the crowd of the first swearing-in. We wandered a bit, priced handwarmers (two for $5, two for $8, if you paid more than $1 you were ripped off), and took a few opportunities to sit. The mall itself was covered in plastic and it felt a bit like being on the roof.  (National Treasure would have a field day with that, but it kept us out of the mud.)

As I waited, and looked around, I saw some of the hope and change, but still couldn't quite figure out why we, or really I had come. I was a good 100,000 people away from the capitol and watching the pageantry on TV. There was plenty of Obama paraphernalia,  a few chants of U.S.A., and a lot of stars and stripes. More were on their way.

The crowd didn't "Shout" when instructed this year by the big screens. The flags did wave, sometimes with fervor, but that magic of four years ago was not present, at least not for me. I listened to the invocation of Evers-Williams and looked around trying to figure out what I was waiting for.

After the president was sworn in and he began to speak, I realized what I'd come for. It was inspiration and a reminder that I'm a small part of something bigger. I waved my flag vigorously as Obama checked off many areas this country can improve from equal pay, gay rights, the environment to the economy and world peace. It was big, general talk for a big diverse audience, but it made me realize why I woke up so early. I'm a part of this crowd. I can approach it cynically and crack jokes or wonder about my sanity as I'm swept up in a crowd moving in the wrong direction or I can do what I can to be heard and to be a part of this crowd. I've got a voice and I get to be heard even just a little bit. Sometimes, we'll have to turn around and take an alternate route, but the crowd has power that we fail to appreciate. This was the "I voted" sticker come to life. It doesn't always have to be bickering and bad news. Obama reminded me that don't have to have all the answers, we just have to take steps and push ourselves.