Late in 2008 I bought this white hoodie from Cafe Press. I don't recall what I spent but whatever it was, it was well spent. It warmed me considerably that winter. And it not only served as a barrier against those brisk mornings on the dog walks in the off-the-leash park. People meeting me on the path would ask me, "What do those numbers mean"?
I would smile and respond, "Think about it". Those mornings transitioned from December into January. Gradually, the expressions of puzzlement gave way to broad smiles and even some thumbs up.Even a few HOO-AAH's. A week after Inauguration Day, the hoodie probably became passé and today it probably is in that box in the corner of my garage.
I could have dragged it out yesterday to wear it on the Martin Luther King Day march up to the Arlington Theatre. Except we are now having spring and it was just to damned wonderfully warm for it to have crossed my mind. Instead, at the time I otherwise would have been on the dog path, I was trying to clear a paper jam in my printer. I had extracted a football sized component from the infernal machine when I was distracted by a voice on the TV in the living room. 18 minutes later, Ballou nosed me with the question, "Why have you been doing nothing except standing there in front of my couch all this time when we could be walking?"
The 2nd Inauguration of our 44th President proves to all of us that 01202009 was not a fluke or a token, however Mitch McConnell might have hoped otherwise. In those concise 18 minutes, we heard one of the best Presidential addresses speeches in history. I don't presume to predict that #44 will be an all-star in history, or merely just another varsity player. As he said yesterday,
. . . . We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall. . . .
I just count myself to be among my fortunate contemporaries to have lived long enough to see what, in the 1960's, I never dreamed I could see.
And I never thought so much could be said, and so eloquently, in 18 minutes.
