Here in DC It Is All About The Love

Today started out early again. We were up and out the door by 6AM. We walked to the Metro station about 1 1/2 miles away. It was still dark and we walked around the perimeter of NIH (National Institute of Health) We wondered while we walked what kinds of things went on inside those fences! What if the monkeys got out?
Of course being gone from the city for so many years I did not have the use of the Metro while I lived here so I did not know what the entrance looked like, so we stopped in a couple of places along the way to make sure we were going the right direction. We found the station and went down an enormous escalator that is at least ten stories down (I am not kidding) as we got down to the bottom some nice kids helped us to purchase tickets from the machines and a nice woman with an Obama hat helped us pick the right train, we followed her to the right stop and then waited in line with her and a million other supporters to get into the concert. All the roads around were blocked off with police cars or Humvee's and there were tons of volunteers everywhere with red hats and they were all so helpful. Everyone was talkative and along the way we somehow picked up this very talkative young black man, he followed us in and talked the whole way. He was trying to get my son updated on the latest rap music, of course my son knew none of it as he is into rock. It was pretty hilarious. But it became a little much after about an hour. As it turned out we picked the wrong side to go in and ended up behind a big tree and also on the side that was kept so far from the stage that we realized it just was not going to be worth it.
So we left and decided that we could spend the next 6 hours in DC going to the Smithsonian and checking out the White House rather than waiting there. Besides there were Jumborons every where and we could see everything that was going on from everywhere. We walked for hours and hours and met so many wonderful people the name of the game in DC today was "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR" or at least you would think it should have been. Not a bad mood, not an unhappy face. Everyone was looking at each other like they "knew" because I think we have all come to grips with the failing economy and the lost jobs. It is real and in our face right now. But at this time we look at the Obama family and find hope not only in just the color of their skin, but in the attitude that he brings to the White House. I know that many people have found fault with Obama lately. But as I listened to his speech on race over again on the way here and also his speech when winning the nomination I heard over and over again that he knew there were many things he was going to do that we were not going to always agree with, but there were things that needed to be done. There are always things that we as a people of so many different ways that there is no way that we will always be happy all the time.
We know that help is on the way. And you could feel it in the air today.

At the Smithsonian they had a young man giving a presentation of MLK and people sat around and listened to him as he spoke like it were MLK himself. He was awesome. People clapping and shouting. I could only pause and think of how MLK made the way for Obama. I thought of how maybe with the election of Obama, even if racism is still a big problem, maybe this put a crack in relations that were so hard before. I don't expect there to be a sudden healing of all wounds and a complete moving on from the past. But that maybe a bit of the pain and pre- conceived notions can be pushed aside to some degree.

As we were on our way to the Science Museum we saw the MSNBC broadcast area. We went over and it was a great time. We were on camera several times and actually I was interviewed one time and got great pictures with Nora and Dick Greggory. I was in awe of how incredibly nice and "regular" they were. Nora always came off as kinda uppity to me on TV. But she was the sweetest thing.

It was a great day all in all, and seeing the concert and Obama's speech today was a wonderful experience that will never be taken away from us. Tomorrow we go to Lathams office and get our inauguration tickets and then off to the Smithsonian again for a few hours, then off to Sirius Radio to be on Mark Thompsons radio show at 6EST. We are so excited.