22 January 2009

Obama Inauguration

On Wednesday, 21 January, I got up at 3am to watch Barack Obama's inauguration live. It was a moment in history that I wanted to be a part of - even from the land Down Under. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered his congratulations to the United States and President Obama. He also offered continued cooperation to the US to help shoulder this economic crisis.

There were live broadcasts of the inauguration on all the stations - some beginning at 2am. I could chose my flavor of coverage: ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN or BBC. I chose Katie Couric since it's been a long time since I've seen her on TV.

I'm sure many of you watched it live, too. I recorded it for Dave and Clara to see later. The actual swearing in occurred about 4:20 am our time. I thought the speech was very good. Dave brought home a Souvenir edition of the Sydney Morning Herald which included Obama's speech. The more I read it and hear it again, the more I'm impressed with it.

The coverage of the inauguration actually began in the papers here on Saturday. The Sydney Morning Herald ran several very well written columns about Barack and what his presidency means for the US and the world.

I noticed how Roberts switched the wording of the Oath of Office in the middle of the Swearing In. At the time I wondered about it. As we now know, there was a missed sequence of the words and Barack was sworn in a 2nd time. Another historic moment.

Today is Friday 23 January. Dave has just left for work. Our days begin before dawn. We get to spend a few minutes together in the morning before he leaves at about 6:15. This morning the dawn was pink and beautiful. Kookaburras were really signing at the top of their lungs! Their "song" is very wild and does not sound like a bird at all. We had often wondered about what creature was calling. Finally witnessed it. Amazing.

On Wednesday morning Dave arrived at the train station in time to see the 6:38 train pulling out. At 6:43 another train arrived and as it turns out, this train's schedule is better because he doesn't have to transfer to get to his station.

I have been missing him during the day. Monday is Australia day and a holiday for Telstra, the company he works for, so Dave has a 3 day weekend!

1 comment:

TheHarriman Family said...

We are really enjoying all the beautiful coastal pictures. I hope Dave is adjusting to the long commute! That makes for a long day. I know Paul hated his, but to ride a train would probably be better. Yes, we are back on line and visiting Florida now.