Coming Back to Earth

The last few weeks have been a blur--after New Year's I was caught up in the count-down to Barack Obama's inauguration, and then on January 18th I flew down to DC and it was suddenly all happening. Of course, my own small plans, within the larger scope of events, didn't roll out the way I'd imagined. Boston got blasted with a snowstorm, which delayed our flight a bit. The bigger hassle was the ingrown toenail I discovered that morning, and the infection that had set in.

Sometime after our arrival, I went to a walk-in clinic and started taking an antibiotic to clear up the infection. While taking care of that issue, I missed the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Then, on Monday night, (the medicine made me sick to my stomach) so that I got very little sleep and didn't think I'd make it down to Obama's swearing in. Still, I'd waited 8 years and traveled 500 miles, and so I made the trek, by Metro and foot, to the Mall.

There, I stood with my two friends and 1.8 million others, savoring the moment even while my stomach churned and gurgled. Even though we were far back in the crowd, in front of the Washington Monument, we could look out and see the Capitol, and watch the proceedings on a giant screen.

Knowing that I was a (tiny) part of history, caught up in the excitement, it was hard to get back to my humdrum life of work, errands, paying bills, etc. But part of me is still basking in a post-DC glow, and grateful for the time I took to make it happen.