Magoo came running up to me today calling, “MOM! MOM! Dad says turn on the TV. It’s Eggnog ‘n Raisin Day. So I did. AHHH! Inauguration day. I knew it was coming. I’ve been watching coverage of President Obama painting homeless shelters and hugging babies across the country on his tour towards the White House. But with all the celebrating and media events, I’d forgotten when it was actually happening.
So we kept Laylee home from school for a good part of the morning to watch the President take the oath of office. She and Magoo both watched with a level of attention I wish they could muster during church. We’ve been talking about this day for a long time and even though his name was harder to remember than McCain’s, I think she’s glad that someone with “darker skin” got elected as president for the first time. That idea thrills her. It thrills me too.
I loved watching him with his daughters, explaining what the boxes were for as he got ready to take the oath. I loved that one of them was taking pictures of him while he gave his speech. I really enjoyed his speech. If every presidency, if any presidency, could be as good as the inauguration speech, wouldn’t that be something? Maybe this one will be.
I loved that the NPR commentator felt the need to point out Oprah and her entourage and narrate her activities and shenanigans. I loved that Obama and Biden both turned in their seats to watch 4 of the world’s most amazing musicians play to them and the entire country out in the freezing cold. I loved that Dan was concerned about how the cold would affect their intonation. I was just worried that their fingers would go numb.
At one point, Obama said, “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.”
I wondered if he was alluding to the fact that we may not get out of Iraq as soon as everyone hopes we will. He’s president now. It’s official. He can allude to things like that.
I love that with all his calm, poise, confidence and eloquence, his brain was exploding just enough to biff it a couple of times as he was repeating the words of the oath of office. It made me like him more. And Michelle just stood there smiling. My word, she’s an attractive and confident woman.
I enjoyed the prayers. I’m glad we can still have prayers at events like this. I especially enjoyed the imagery of “beating tanks into tractors.” I’d like to watch that happen on some bizarre military/agricultural version of Pimp my Ride.
I’m hopeful. I was not a flag-waving, bumper sticker toting Obama supporter. I’m still not. But I like him and I’m hopeful. Looking at my children, my neighbors and some of my local leaders, I know things can get better and I chose to believe that they will.
Wow, you said everything I’ve been thinking, but much better than I could ever say it. Thanks! It’s an amazing day.
And my family is thrilled, too, that someone with “darker skin” got elected as president!
I’m OK with Obama. I don’t revere him as rock star, messiah, or even the solution to all problems, as the media and many of his supporters do. But I’m on board. If he can manage to unify the country, and inspire us to be individually accountable, we’ll be OK. I love our country regardless of whether other countries “like us” or not. I’m proud of our heritage and treasure the courage and faith of our founding fathers. I hope Obama does, too. Black, purple, or any other color–let’s not make it about that. To do so makes me feel like we are moving backwards instead of forward, like we belittle actual merits and accomplishments of our new commander in chief.
Thank you very much for saying all of this! It is wonderful to see another young family, that may not be a HUGE Obama supporter, be excited about the hope our country now has. A hope that we have not had in a very long time!!!! A hope that our children need now more than ever!!!!! I too am keeping my eyes open and watching that he will be all that we expect him to be for our nation. Michelle is one classy lady, by the way. Did anyone else notice she gave Mrs. Bush a gift as they walked into the White House together? That is my kind of girl!!!! Again, thanks for taking the time to support our new President, something everyone should be doing today at least.
Very well put! I agree with it all. Thanks for putting into words what I have been trying to.
Yay to what Jessie said. 🙂
What a fantastic post. I shared it through Google Reader because I want everyone to read it.
Well stated. We had a snow day here in North Carolina so I was able to watch loads of the inauguration and I was concerned that my son didn’t seem to understand why we were so excited. Well he’s 7 (almost 8 according to him) and then I realized, this is not a big deal to him. He can’t imagine a world where his black friends and brown friends and white friends can’t be elected President. I let that sink in for a minute and then I cried a little bit, happy tears, really.
I couldn’t agree more! What an exciting day!
I didn’t vote for him but I like that he’s motivated and wants to change the country. I hope he does a lot of good. I enjoyed watching all the hoopla throughout the day. It was exciting.
that kid is hilarious. actually, both of your children are. I’ve been reading your blog for a while now so i thought that i should probably give a shout out. 🙂 And i just inadvertently found out that I’m friends with your sister. weird, no? I just love you both!
Nice post. About the swearing in, the chief justice of the supreme court I believe did not have notes, was telling him what to say from memory, and said the part about “faithfully” in the wrong order and it threw Obama off because he knew what it was supposed to be. That’s what the news people said, anyway.
Just thought I’d let you know (in case you don’t already know) that your Tips For Tuesday Kitchen Organization post made it onto LifeHacker.
http://lifehacker.com/5135241/create-kitchen-kits-to-avoid-frantic-drawer-searching
The inauguration was great. I loved the musical number, and thought it was interesting that only the pianist was wearing fingerless gloves.
I appreciate your optimism! I’m just not so sure myself. I wore black to the office today in mourning of the death of our country. Communism didn’t work for the Russians or the Chinese. What makes America think this “change” is going to work for us now?
I thought it was a beautiful speech. I’d never watched an inauguration before and was very pleased with all of it. I, being a tree-hugger, especially liked the part where we have to stop our dependence on oil because in strengthens those who, ya know, don’t like us so much. I paraphrase.
I was and am a big Obama supporter, but not because I think that he’s the messiah or some such nonsense. He’s still a politician, but a politician who inspires me. And I think that’s a beautiful thing.
My happiest thought from Tuesday: MLK’s dream came true because I voted for this man because of the content of his character not the color of his skin. I’m not the only one!
I shared “Eggnog and Raisin” day with my friends at work today. They really liked it; one was chuckling over it and repeating it long after. So you and Magoo brought some like into an otherwise very snowy and stressful day. ^_^