It's always hard to leave a good party.

I didn't know it, but the spot that I picked to watch the inauguration was right by one of the exit routes from the Mall. That was a very good thing, because after standing still for about an hour I was getting pretty cold. Once I got into the stream of people leaving, there was little choice about where to go. Not only was almost every route blocked off, but just the force of all of those people was enough to keep me going wherever they were going. I pulled out my map a couple of times to make sure I wasn't being carried in the wrong direction, but I was pretty sure that we were probably going the right way. I had it in my head earlier that I might be able to duck into a museum for the afternoon while all of the crowds dispersed from the Mall, but the friendly folks in camo wanted us all to stay together.

Once we got to the closest Metro station that was open, they had to keep us from flooding into the station. Earlier in the day a woman had fallen onto the tracks at one of the stations, and while she said she wasn't pushed, people don't usually stand that close to the edge unless there's nowhere else to stand. So the police and National Guard were being very cautious about crowd control. By now some people were starting to get grouchy, but only a few. The guy who appeared to be in charge here kept telling us two things: "If you have kids with you, keep them in front of you!" and "If you start pushing, I will have to shut this station down and you'll have to go somewhere else!" None of us wanted that.

Even with people pressing against me on all sides, I was starting to shiver. I was glad that I was not at the back of the crowd. I was on a train heading home about 45 minutes after I started leaving the Mall. The whole day was a phenomenal experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I'm glad I wasn't scared off by all of the dire warnings.

Settling in to Watch

I eventually settled in to watch across the street from the Washington Monument. It was toward the back of one of the massive sections that were blocked off so there was more room to move around. The Marine Corps band was playing the whole time, and thanks to the great sound system we could hear the music even though we were quite far away. They played lots of music that would be familiar to any band geek -- Washington Post, Liberty Bell, National Emblem, Hail Columbia, and at least one Suite by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

It was amazing to me that so many people were so happy to be standing there in the cold waiting for this. Not even any of the children that I saw seemed to be unhappy about having been dragged along with grandparents and parents -- I don't think I saw a single hand-held video game. There was so much to see and hear, and there was very much a feeling of shared experience. I saw a member of the National Guard bring hot popcorn to one of the people waiting because the popcorn cart was in a different section and he couldn't let her cross the barricade. They were very strict about not letting people move around very much.

I knew that there were going to be Jumbotrons there, but I had no idea how well I would be able to hear everything that was happening. All of the arriving dignitaries were announced, and we were able to hear all of the speeches and performances that preceeded the swearing-in. And then, it was finally time!

The trumpet fanfare in the background after the oath that you might be able to hear beneath all of the cheering people are Ruffles and Flourishes. The President gets four repetitions, followed by "Hail to the Chief". ;-)

One in a Million

I honestly don't remember right now at which station I got off the train; I just remember the conductor saying that the stop was "a very good stop to get off the train and go to the Mall." So I did, and it was.

One advantage of being alone is that it was easier to squeeze myself through crowds to find a place that I liked and I had about two hours to do it. I wished I had on better tree-climbing clothes, because that would have been a great view but chilly! At one point I made it as close to the Capitol as I could get without a ticket, but I was too far off to one side and I couldn't see any of the big screens. So I wandered toward the middle and toward the Washington Monument and that's where I spent the last hour or so and where I watched the actual swearing-in.

On my way there, I made a few new friends... apparently this Park Police horse wanted to know if I has a flavor. :-) And yes, I put my hat right back on after this was taken because it was flippin' cold!

People were obviously trying hard to stay warm and comfortable. I saw quite a few "people piles" . . .

. . . and an Audi ad. Even when I'm not at work, it still follows me around.

Still more to follow. Please stay tuned!

Yes We Can . . .

. . . make a half-hour train ride take two hours. I ran down the broken-escalator-now-stairs when I got to the station, and found a spot on the last car of the train. The last car is usually the one with the fewest people, and even though I couldn't sit down, this one had more standing room until we got to the second stop. About 20 more people got on my car, and from that point on no one else could get on the train until people started getting off -- about two hours and 10 stations later.

Despite not being able to let on more passengers, the trip took two hours because the trains were backed up from letting people off downtown. We kept hearing changing announcements about which stations were still open, because some stations are always closed during big events and others closed sporadically if they got too crowded.

More to come!

OMG, it's almost here and I don't have anything to wear!!

Calm down, I'm not going to one of the balls (*sniff*). This is really a test to see how blog posts look when I send them from my cell. I am going into DC for the big chaos on Tuesday because I'm nuts, but that means that YOU don't have to! Get a Michigoose view of the Inauguration of the 44th President.

Some things never change.

I got a new sewing machine for Christmas! It hasn't arrived from Michigan yet, but I was getting started cutting out a new pair of pajamas when Giselle decided to practice the time-honored feline pastime of getting right in the middle of what a favorite person is trying to do. I think she likes the crinkly pattern paper.