literally, one in a million

i’ve made no secret of the fact that i am not all that in to politics. i mean, i got out and i waited in line for over an hour and a half to vote, and i watched the debates and all that, but i generally don’t know all that much about what is going on in the world, so i tend to zip my lips whenever conversations turn political (and knowing my girlfriends, that doesn’t happen all that often, since most of our chatting is dominated by whatever stupid celebrity is doing whatever stupid thing at the moment). but since i live less than 2 miles from the national mall, i decided to be a part of history and hoof it down to the inaugural concert at the lincoln memorial, and then again to the swearing in on the 20th. a few weeks back, there was a lot of talk about how 5 million plus people would descend on dc and take over the metro systems and the roads and we would all be helpless to do anything or go anywhere, but in reality…it was not all that bad. don’t get me wrong, there were A LOT of people there. maybe it was the mood in the air, though, that made it seem like not all that big of a deal to be shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of strange people…because even the newspapers are reporting not one single arrest yesterday, in a crowd of 1.5 million people. we started the weekend off by attending the “other” green ball at the mellon auditorium, which was my second inaugural ball (hey, i didn’t vote for bush, but i will sure as hell take a free ticket to any event that advertises an open bar!!!), but the first one i went to with my husband. going with the renewable theme of the evening, erik donned a tie he made himself out of recycled paper (and of course, it was green!), and i called my momma up and she let me borrow the gorgeous gown she wore back in 1981 to ronald raegan’s inaugural ball. we had such a great time, it was a really fun party, my sister was there, my cousin hillary (not bad for only her second week in dc – we have to keep reminding her that dc is not like this all the time!), and a handful of my girlfriends and their dates, so even after a full day of moving from one apartment to another, it was for sure, a memorable night. sunday we managed to get up and get to the mall for the inaugural concert, even though we briefly entertained the idea of watching in on tv, after having been out until 3 in the morning (woohoooo i am NOT OLD, cause old people don’t stay out that late!!!) the night before. i’m so glad we trekked down to the mall, though, it was an amazing event and to be a part of that crowd that was so full of energy and excitement was really incredible. even watching it again on tv the next day, i was still amazed that i had been a part of that crowd. if you didn’t go, and if you couldn’t tell on tv, every time obama was shown on the jumbotron screens, the entire crowd went nuts. from where we were, i couldn’t even see the lincoln memorial, and i could only see the jumbotron by standing on my toes (man were my calves aching on monday!), but i didn’t need to see it – you could totally feel the buzz just by being there. and i could hear it, so that was enough. seeing the crowds on tv, though, when garth brooks had everyone jumping up and down to “shout” – that was nuts. 750,000 people dancing and singing in unison. kind of makes you feel just a teensy bit better about mankind.

tuesday was a mad house down on the mall – but not the same way that something like mardi gras or the superbowl are madhouses. the streets were swarming with people, we were practically pushed down the street at one point just on the movement of the crowd, but there was no one complaining, no one being aggressive or yelling, everyone just happy to be there and excited about what was happening. we finally got a place just underneath the washington monument and of course, people who are only 5’3” cannot see over 500,000 people that happen to be in front of them, so again, i couldn’t see a damn thing, but i could hear the swearing in and i could hear the inauguration address, and i could hear what people on tv couldn’t hear, which was people around me crying, laughing, chanting obama’s name (even booing bush, which i thought was unnecessary and mean spirited), and just celebrating. there i was, underneath the monument to the father or our country, celebrating with literally a million other people, and i stopped just long enough to think, damn…this is pretty cool. erik even put me up on his shoulders (briefly…i don’t exactly weigh 98 pounds) so i could get a glimpse of obama on the big screen. what a truly amazing day. i didn’t even mind the cold, or the walk home, or not being able to see. i am so glad i didn’t miss out on any of that. i doubt i will ever witness anything like that again. so. for all the times i complain about living in dc or how much tourists annoy me, or the traffic, or the expense...there are times like this that balance it all out and make me think that living in our nation’s capital is pretty effing cool.