Inauguration Day

With a dusting of snow on the ground, yes, snow, I have just dropped Isabelle at school and am plopping myself in front of the television to watch the lead up to the Inauguration. I will likely miss Obama's speech since I will being picking her up from school but we will watch the parade.

We live in one of the 22 states which did not vote for Obama - in fact, Greenville County voted 62% for McCain. There will be no parties on our street celebrating this new president. Perhaps it is just the gray weather, but I get the sense that many of my neighbours feel that life as they knew it will never be the same. I'm Canadian - things don't change that much from government to government - especially when we have 3 elections in 4 years resulting in minority governments so I find it hard to understand in some ways.

As I watch President Elect and Mrs. Obama enter the front door of the White House, I know the importance of this day for both sides comes nowhere near anything I could ever understand. Obama will be sworn in on the same bible as Lincoln, the first time that bible has been used for an inauguration since Lincoln. Lincoln's election in 1860 spurred South Carolina to be the first state to secede from the Union. Time to get to those American History books I got for Christmas!