~~ 46 !! ~~

21 January 2021

I didn't want to miss anything, so I stayed awake all night.  This is not unusual for me, but usually it's because I can't get to sleep.  Last night I did it deliberately.

I watched the ceremony of the President and Vice President Elect standing by the memorial pool in DC, watching the lights lit in memory of the 400,000 deaths for Covid.  It was so beautiful that I began to think that #45's refusal to be part of  the transfer of administration and the terrorists at the Capitol which made it too dangerous for there to be a "normal" inauguration might actually be a good thing for the incoming president.  The lights were beautiful.

It brought tears to my eyes to see that for the first time the federal government was acknowledging the deaths.  But this wasn't the first time the inauguration of President Biden brought tears to my eyes.

I watched Way Too Early and Morning Joe (2 a.m. and 3 a..m.) because I wasn't sure what time, California time, #45 would be leaving the White House and heading off for Florida.  Turns out he left the White House a bit after 8 (5 a.m. my time) and took the helicopter to the air force base, where a small crowd greeted him.  He gave a brief speech letting everyone know how wonderful he was and then walked up the red carpet to Air Force One and flew off to Florida.

My heart leaped up watching him disappear into the plane, knowing that within a couple of hours, he would no longer be president and we won't be hearing from him every day (especially since he has been blocked from social media).

After Air Force One left, Biden et al. went to church for Mass, so I took a nap until he arrived at the capitol to start getting ready for the ceremonies.  Because of the terrorists, and also because of the pandemic, people could not be invited to the mall to watch the inauguration, but approximately 200,000 flags covered part of the National Mall to represent the American people who were unable to travel to Washington

It was so beautiful.

I have to say how impressed I am wth the reporters, who identified everybody who came onto the stage at the capitol.  I could barely recognize BIDEN with his mask on,  let alone Senators and other people.  The only person I recognized was Clinton, because he's so tall.

While I loved Lady Gaga's performance of the National Anthem, I wasn't sure about her outfit---maybe she was trying to make sure that she stayed a safe distance from everyone?

Steve Schalchlin said that her brooch reminded him of that Dick Van Dyke episode where Laura gets the huge family brooch.

Young Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet laureate gave a very strong poem.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated

The tears came when Harris was inaugurated, thinking of all the girls, especially non-white girls, watching this woman become the first female vice president of the United States.

Jeri sent me a message inviting me to join a Zoom to toast the new administration and a friend added me to a group of women who were chatting about it all and my phone dinged every couple of minutes but I was too emotional and turned my phone off.

And then Biden was inaugurated.

As I watched the hands of the clock reach noon while he was speaking and realized that he was now officially the president, the tears came again.  Amy Klobuchar talked about his speech and said he stood up against the bullies, stood up to the racists and insurrectionists and said this was a democracy and that people will be be faithful to the constitution, to cherish it and defend it.

When President Biden went into the Oval Office to sign executive orders overturning many of #45's orders, I felt proud and felt hopeful that this is going to go well and that we can get back to a country where we aren't governed by red and blue sentiments.  I am especially pleased that one of the first things he wants to do is to reunite the children who were taken from their families 2 years ago.  #45 forgot they even existed.

President Biden.

Doesn't that sound good??