To the people who live here, inaugurations are a big annoyance if you don’t like the incoming adminstration or a very cool thing AND a big annoyance if you do. So there you have it – for locals life is all screwed up for a week or so. But waaay more than for the Carter and Clinton inaugurations I’ve seen, nobody I know minds a bit. Euphoria’s breaking out all over the damn place.
Inauguration Day Plans
For us the conversation starter of choice for the last 10 weeks has been to ask each other whether and HOW we were going downtown on the big day, and local newscasters can’t get enough of it, either. Almost daily we hear alarming new crowd estimates and the prediction that it’ll take us four to five hour to get home via public transportation. The Porta-Potty-to-human ratio is announced and we calculate the outer limits of our bladder control. We hint at invitations to stay with close-in friends, or to use their parade-route office as a home base for the day.
Then this week we learned that all the bridges into D.C. would be closed, leaving Virginians creepily isolated from the North, and we all feel a bit under attack. And the big open question – the weather – is now a known factor and the news is not good. Could be worse, sure, but the expected HIGH on Tuesday is 31, and it’ll be in the low 20s when people gather on the mall and along the parade route…to wait for hours.
So after 9 weeks of scheming and dithering about my own plans for the day, the answer is: I’ll gather in a nice church hall near my house to hang out with like-minded friends and neighbors. We’ll eat, drink, and watch the whole thing on a big screen. PERFECT!
Dems from Other Places
So I say let the out-of-towners take my place downtown that day – God bless ‘em! They go to a lot of trouble and expense to get here, and lucky me gets to see a few of them that I know. In the gardening world that includes one gardenblogger – Mary Ann Newcomer the Idaho Gardener - and my new friend at Gardeners Supply Company in Vermont – Maree Gaetani.
Photo: On Tuesday some lucky people will be standing on the balcony of the Newseum where I was last month when I took this picture, and they’ll have a pretty awesome view of the parade.
{ 3 comments }
I am very happy both that this inauguration is happening and that I won’t be at it. Looks like I’ll be watching it the same way you will. I think I might be doing it at a restaurant though.
The hall with big screen tv and like minded folks sounds perfect! gail
I’ll be at home by myself. If I tear up, no one will see me.