Inauguration!

Well we decided to brave the crowds and go in, after all. Three of us did, anyway -- Matthew didn't even consider it; he stayed home and didn't even wake up until after Obama had been sworn in. I can't blame him, really -- I couldn't see the jumbatron closest to me anyway. It was more about standing and being counted, like on voting day. Plus it was kinda cool when Bush appeared and people started singing "Na na naa na, na na naa na, hey he-ey, good-bye." But I'm getting ahead of myself.....

Alan and Emily left the house at about 8 and walked to the East Falls Church metro stop, where they waited a good while before going anywhere. ALan said they got to L'Enfant at something like 11:30. I left later and got there earlier -- on my bicycle! I met my friend Joan and her family and we biked in -- I don't think it too much more than half an hour to get in or back out -- from her house - probably 45 minutes, to /from mine. That's actually not much longer than it takes normally, on my fat tires..... maybe 5 minutes? The only bad thing was, I would have liked to have been with ALan and Em, or at least been in touch with them. My phone wouldn't ring when I called Alan.... so I tried Joan's. It rang and I left him a message; he told me afterwards (at home) that it was too loud where he was to have heard it. (I wasn't as close. I could have been, but Joan's husband didn't want to keep trying to get closer through the crowd and I thought it was a bad idea to split up. Our bikes were locked all togeher with all of our various locks......)

Alan and I had chosen a jumbatron to meet near, and it sounds like we were in fact all watching the same one as planned, which takes some work; there were so MANY! -- except that I couldn't see it. They were closer. I was about 30 feet from the Washington Monument -- sounds like Alan and Em were about 30 feet from the screen.

I don't know what the estimates are on the # of people, but they can't possibly have counted us all. I mean I was NOWHERE near the capitol where it was happening, and you hear how crowded it was.....

Anyway biking back was also easy; I was home by 2, having left sometime after 1 I think -- we went over to the bikes and started unlocking them soon as Obama finished speaking. I had changed and eaten and walked the dog and was getting ready to take Matthew to his PT appointment by the time ALan and Em got to Ballston..... that was like 4:15.

We will all have to watch it on the computer later, though. I'm sure you got to take it in better, from the warmth of your living room. what did you think of it?