Reflections on the Inauguration

I'm back in San Francisco, equal parts exhausted and exhilarated. It's time to turn my attention back to my work and my family. But before I do, I wanted to take a moment to reflect. I heard yesterday that with approximately 2 million people at the Mall and on the parade route on Tuesday, there was not one arrest. That sort of says it all. I had anticipated the sense of history being made. I had not anticipated the pervasive joy, the sense of community and abiding hope and goodwill. Even in the airport early Wednesday morning, as nerves became frayed in the process of trying to get through security and make it onto airplanes with far too many fellow passengers, the sense of camaraderie persisted. Every gate was filled with people in Obama t-shirts, wearing Obama hats and pins. Folks were being conscientious about greeting each other, sharing smiles and stories of our inaugural adventures before we all returned to our separate lives. This morning, I went to The White House website for the first time in my life. It is truly something to behold, and if you had any doubt that change has, in fact, come to America just check out the civil rights page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/ As I said at the beginning of this post, I am exhausted from the trip, and clearly there is much work to be done. But the sense of possibility in the air is palpable, and it truly feels like a new day has dawned.