Sunday, January 18, 2009

From the land of sun and snowbirds

After Nov. 4, I thought about attending the Obama Inauguration in D.C. It's historic, no quibbling about that. It's an opportunity to join with thousands of maybe millions of like-minded citizens to celebrate our election efforts -- and hope for the future.

But back in the early fall, I arranged a trip to Arizona that combined business with pleasure. Also a chance to get out of Wyoming in mid-winter. I arranged the trip to accommodate others, and forgot about possible big happenings in D.C.

But there are more of us "not" going to the inauguration than those attending. We plan to be remote participants, volunteering for worthy causes on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and watching Tuesday's festivities on airport TVs, which always seem to be tuned into Fox News (conspiracy?). I wonder, is Fox even covering the event? It's possible the network may run highlights of all the things it got wrong during the presidential campaign. Or maybe a special Ultimate Fighting Championship Death Match pitting Ann Coulter against Rush Limbaugh. If I know Ann's fighting skills, Rush will be hurting big time after that one. He'll really need those prescription painkillers.

So I may miss the Jan. 20 ceremonies. But I'll watch them later on the web. On Monday, my son and I will volunteer for the cause in Tucson. I've already written about USAservice and some of the orgs that seek help on that day -- and throughout the year.

All in all, a great time to be an American.

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