Cold Dawn

Like Red Dawn, except less fighting football teams and more fighting crowds and crowd control.

(Although I suppose some would call the dawn of That One to be a certain kind of Red Dawn...)

Barack Obama's inauguration: historical, joyful. Also: Awkward (bumbled oath). Frustrating (did I mention the often polite, though occasionally, absurdly inconsiderate fellow citizens sharing a small patch of dust and dirt on the National Mall?). Cold (more HOT CHOCOLATE vendors!). Poorly positioned gateways (perhaps better called chokepoints). Awful sound (unsynced with the videos, often eardrum rattling loud static).

4 miles down, 4 miles up, all on foot. 6 hours of standing.

But for those few moments: walking past the Washington monument in the pre-dawn darkness with friends and family; literally leaning on friends during Mary J. Blige's replayed, Sly Stoned cover of "Lean on Me" from the We Are One spectacle; overheard awkward chitchat between the leaders of the American government; George W. Bush's helicopter flying over the mall, on his way back to Texas.

But above all, to see and feel and hear hope in the cheers of those around you, and in your own voice.