Something big happened yesterday. I watched in on cnn.com. (Watching an Inauguration on television is SOOOOOO 2004)
Like everyone, I was moved. I was relieved. I was elated. I was veklempt. And then he said something that gave me pause. In a good way. From the transcript:
"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."
I have just returned from a place where worldly possessions were sold and packed, and a journey West was undertaken. It put my own journey West into sharp contrast. More photos:
Gingerbread like town
The Church
These people, the Boozers, were farmers in this tiny little Swiss town. They sold everything they owned, packed up the rest, and boarded a boat. They wound up in Saxe Gotha Township in South Carolina. Ulrich - the head of the family, was a Tory. They were farmers for 4 generations and served in two wars (some speculate that one of the women in the family was a spy in the civil war...)
Virgil (a minister), Essie (nee Wyse), and Herman...taken in 1897-98. The fifth generation of Americans. To think that they went from being poor farmers to this in a few generations. This is what America is about.
So I'm thinking - if they could do all of that and become what they became, then Cali is going to bow to my will. Clearly I'm made of strong stuff.
I was going to be all deep and moving and then I lost it. I'll let Obama be deep and meaningful for me.
And I'm thankful for a president who can speak in complete sentences. Who respects science as well as faith (all faiths). And who doesn't look like - as a friend put it - he's contemplating navel lint. And yay! Young children in the White House. What this country needs is a shot of youth.
Gingerbread like town
The Church
These people, the Boozers, were farmers in this tiny little Swiss town. They sold everything they owned, packed up the rest, and boarded a boat. They wound up in Saxe Gotha Township in South Carolina. Ulrich - the head of the family, was a Tory. They were farmers for 4 generations and served in two wars (some speculate that one of the women in the family was a spy in the civil war...)
Virgil (a minister), Essie (nee Wyse), and Herman...taken in 1897-98. The fifth generation of Americans. To think that they went from being poor farmers to this in a few generations. This is what America is about.So I'm thinking - if they could do all of that and become what they became, then Cali is going to bow to my will. Clearly I'm made of strong stuff.
I was going to be all deep and moving and then I lost it. I'll let Obama be deep and meaningful for me.
And I'm thankful for a president who can speak in complete sentences. Who respects science as well as faith (all faiths). And who doesn't look like - as a friend put it - he's contemplating navel lint. And yay! Young children in the White House. What this country needs is a shot of youth.
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