Now that my hands and feet are thawed out, here are a few thoughts/sights I experienced on Inauguration Day:

I’ve been here for the Million Man March and two other Inaugurations, but I have NEVER seen that many people in one place and in such a good mood about it. (Two million people, and no arrests? Are you kidding me????!)

Volunteers threw themselves into keeping the crowds from thinking about how cold they were. One fellow with chubby cheeks and a smooth set of pipes worked the crowd as if he was warming them up for the Tonight Show. He had total strangers (including three Black women in the biggest fur coats I’ve ever seen, arm-in-arm with White high-schoolers) dancing and singing Motown tunes – with the name "Obama" strategically inserted in the choruses.

Fighting against the flow of the crowds to get to my workspace, I couldn’t count the number of kids filing the streets. I guess cold weather is only a problem if you’re over18! I got a kick out seeing so many riding on their Dads’ shoulders. Their images brought to mind all the speeches I’ve heard by the President and other leaders reminding us how we have the lives and liberties we do because we stand on the shoulders of our forebears.

Favorite sight: watching Vice Preisdent Biden’s grandchildren playing with Oregon State Basketball Coach Craig Robinson, the President’s brother-in-law. For hours. It looked like the country – racially and generationally - coming together.