19 January 2009

Inauguration Report #2

It is Christmas Eve (according to Sergio) and we are too excited to sleep. But we have decided to force ourselves to go to bed early enough that we can get an early start tomorrow. And by early, I mean 4. The city is abuzz; the excitement is in the ether and is intoxicating everyone. The string of tour buses headed down the street (as Lindsay pointed out), the siren sound of (perhaps) a very important motorcade (as Ken pointed out), conversations overheard in passing, presidential helicopters overhead, restaurants staying open 24 hours, and - of course - plenty more Obama specials to be had at every retail location ("Obama Rama Small Cakes - $7" at Sticky Fingers Bakery). Even the parking spots near the 3100 block of Connecticut Ave were already becoming scarce by early this afternoon. You can feel the hum of the inauguration all around.

We generated our own giddy buzz at (Ken & Lindsay's) home tonight where we have been all a-twitter scouting out entry points and jumbotron spots on the national mall for tomorrow, deciding what to wear to keep us sufficiently warm (high of 31 , but the windchill in the AM will be 11 and we don't want to pull a Wm Henry Harrison), deciding what kinds of provisions to take (only "small snacks" are allowed - whatever that means - and our wait will be long so we're taking granola & vegan jerky), charging the batteries in all our electronic devices & cameras, and speculating comically on what both Barack Obama and George W. Bush must be doing or thinking on this momentous eve.

We are preparing all the hats and long johns, snacks and cameras tonight ... but I'm sure there will be something much more inspiring to remember tomorrow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HI!!!! i didn't know you were in DC! incredible! i loved seeing the details of pre-inauguration through your eyes! LC