What to Do For the Inauguration?

Well, I missed the boat on the biggest community celebration at a local theatre here, which was free to the public. I called yesterday after I found out about it, but they had already closed for the day, and when I called again today (after a day-long workshop here at church), they were out of tickets. The party was starting at 11:00am, which would have worked out great for the kids to come along. I'm considering tossing around the idea tomorrow of some kind of family-friendly inauguration open house here at church on Tuesday, but I am not sure what the interest will be and how quickly I can throw something together like this. Good idea, though, no?

Edited for an Update: Another venue decided to open its doors for inauguration day overflow from the first venue. It too was free, so we took the kids and went. They gave the kids flags, and it was so cute to see K. waving hers around proudly every time people clapped or cheered. M. didn't as much wave his flag as he shook it wildly LOL. I wish I had had a camera, but alas, we'd misplaced it and didn't have time to look for it in our rush out the door. The crowd was pretty low-key. Mostly folks who work at the nearby courthouse or city hall and were on a lunch break. We left a bit early because the kids were getting fitfully tired and needed to get home to nap. On our way out, we got stopped by a reporter from our city's newspaper. We chatted with her for a minute, but with the kids running around us like complete nuts, I have my doubts as to whether we said anything coherent, let alone worthwhile.

For the most part, I'm pretty glad we went. And G. said looking at the crowd in D.C. left her feeling very good there was no feasible way for us to go. "There is no way I'd want to be there right now," she said. As I was freezing cold just walking a third of a mile to and from our car to attend the local event, I must say, I am glad we're not stuck out there in the cold either. Especially because while Obama's speech was solid, it won't go down in history as "the best ever inaugural speech."

With Open Arms and Open Hearts

Please read this message from Melissa Ethridge about the upcoming inauguration. I found it helpful:

The Choice Is Ours Now

The Presidential Inauguration

The day after Barack Obama won the elections, G. caught me telling the kids, "We're going to go see Obama get sworn in as president!"

"No way," she said.

"Why not?" I asked, thinking that DC can't be that far from here in MA and imagining a three hour drive or something. Everything is so small here on the east coast.

"We don't have the money, that's why."

"Oh. Well, how much could it cost to drive down there for a day?"

"A lot. First of all, there is gas," (alright, she had me there). "Second of all, there is no way in heck we could put the kids through a drive there for seven or eight hours..." (SEVEN OR EIGHT HOURS?!) "...stay there for all day, and then try to drive back. You are talking about at least two overnights."

"Oh. Well, what if we slept in the car? Or we could camp. Come on, we could bring a cooler full of food and it would be a really memorable adventure."

"Sleep in the car, or camp with two small kids, in January?! Are you serious? No, there is no way in heck I am going for that. Besides, I already said there is no money for gas."

"I guess you've got me."

So I looked up stuff on inaguarations and learned that you usually can't see anything anyway. There are so many people there, there is no way you can actually see the president. And apparently its hard to see even the parade, which is really the only event designed for "common people" like ourselves. My kids would be sorely disappointed to go all that way and not even get a glimpse of Obama.

This made me feel a lot better about not going. I guess I had just wanted to be there with my kids on this very historical and amazing day. It's a day I feel like I've waited for my whole life.

But did you all get the email from the transition team, that more than ever before, Obama wants to inaugural events to not be just for big donors, but for the whole nation? Hmmm. The itch isn't back in full force, but it sure did make me stop for a minute.

Speaking of the inauguration, while I think the g/l/b/t community provided tremendous support for Obama and I don't fault the disappointment of people like my wife regarding Obama's decision about the invocation, the Rev. Ketcham had a good point here. But on the other hand, the Rev. Ford has some good points here too...