I’ve spent some frigid days and nights in the wilderness. There was the night along the Loyalsock Trail when temperatures dove below 10 degrees, and that 12-hour sleet storm in New Hampshire’s Pemigewassett Wilderness last February. But ranking up there (or should I say “down”?) was the icy day I spent Friday in Washington, D.C.
If this is any indication of what’s to come Tuesday for Barack Obama’s inauguration, wear lots of layers … and bring the home furnace.
There was quiet anticipation Friday, four days before what will be long remembered in Washington, D.C., history with the civil rights marches and Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. I wouldn’t call it a buzz or excitement, but the reverence and anticipation was there whether it was the Smithsonian Institute’s American History Museum’s new Lincoln gallery or the massive banners hanging from tall buildings like the Newseum welcoming the new president. Spent the lunch hour at a local brew pub listening to a Ukrainian woman drunkenly speak about how much she loved Ronald Reagan (had something to do with growing up in the “evil” Soviet Union and all) and wondered if Obama had the capacity to solve all these great problems confronting American in 2009. And all day you couldn’t escape the signs that a great event was soon coming whether it was the empty seats on the U.S. Capitol’s west lawn or the fighter jets flying over the National Mall or all the people catching glimpses of the White House talking about what would change after Tuesday about the institution of the American presidency.
Here are some photos I snapped during my visit. Hope it invokes some anticipation and wonder about Obama’s inauguration Tuesday:
