Barack Obama's Inauguration

Hannah and I volunteered to work at Barack Obama's inauguration!

We had to attend training, but our exact responsibilities couldn't be divulged until 24 hours beforehand due to security concerns.

We arrived at the Greenbelt Metro station on the day of the Inauguration at 04h15 to discover that the traffic was so heavy, the police had diverted traffic into side streets. Rather than be an annoyance, this somehow added to the grandeur of the day. Despite the cold, everyone was in high spirits. People, figuratively from all walks of life, were literally walking down the road together to celebrate one very special event!

The day involved the swearing in of Obama, all the dignitaries having lunch at the Capital Building and then the Obama's and Biden's on a two hour parade from the Capital Building to the White House.

Upon arriving in the city, we made our way to our designated volunteer meeting areas. It took 3 hours to get from our meeting area to our final volunteer station. Due to the security restrictions, trying to cross Pennsylvania Ave was an adventure in itself. Our duty was to assist with preparing the lines of people to go through the security checks into the parade grounds. Although the waits were long and information was difficult to obtain at times, people were generally very understanding. Eventually everyone who waited passed through our gates and we, ourselves, joined the parade watchers. Everyone listened intently to the swearing in ceremony via the PA system. People were in a jubilant mood and there was a real sense of accomplishment framed by hope. Hope for a presidency based on openness and values, rather than secrecy and special interests. The inauguration party then had lunch in the Capitol building and was delayed by the unfortunate seizure of Ted Kennedy.

The parade started several hours after the oath was taken and the wind had become bone chilling. The crowds braved it as everyone was keen to see the Obama’s. When they finally arrived, the crowds went wild! This is why they’d gotten up at 3am! Obama was now finally president and the crowds could see him as president with their own eyes. Once the Obama’s and Biden’s had passed there was unfortunate, but understandable mass exit from the parade grounds. There was still 2 hrs left of the parade but the wind was blowing out the crowd’s enthusiasm. Thankfully I did see the most of the remaining parade while making my way back to the metro!

My lasting memory of the inauguration is of an elderly afro American ex-serviceman who stood close to me watching the parade. He was probably in his early seventies and was smartly dressed in his service uniform. He had braved the cold and the crowds by himself to acknowledge the start of President Obama’s presidency. What stories he had to tell, I will never know. What led him to leave the warmth of his home and brave the elements to see the inauguration, I will never know. What I do know was that seeing him there, made watching the inauguration much the richer for me. We were only two out of the estimated 2 million people. Each of those 2 million came with their own stories, but each came to celebrate a fantastic day in American, actually world history.

Missed Post

Hey Beloved Readers

It seems I wrote but forgot to publish the Santa Fe post (the part of our drive across country between st Louis and Santa Cruz).

I have published it and here is the link.

http://strengtheningthetiestour.blogspot.com/2008/12/santa-fe-and-great-couch-surf.html

Downstate New York

The Scandinavians have a tradition whereby after a good sauna session, they rub snow all over their bodies, before climbing back into the sauna. Hannah and I did something similar except instead of jumping out the sauna we drove 1200 miles (4000km) from Florida to Downstate New York. The reason - to visit Morgan (see Santa Cruz) and Darren who were visiting Morgan's parents.

Morgan's parents live just outside of Forestburg. The last 20 miles of the drive was so beautiful. We drive past lakes that had frozen over, dam overflows which had frozen as if they were in mid flow. Winter was in full swing. Everything was white, clean and pristine. It was truly a winter wonderland.

There was a big log fire always going inside the house which kept us cozy and warm. We went for a beautiful walk along a trail in the woods behind their house. Every step crunched beneath our feet, the snow was falling gently, everything was white and quiet.

We only spent one night with the Kulchinsky's but it was great to meet Morgan's family and spend time with Morgan and Darren. See these beautiful pictures...































Darren and Morgan

















Our trusty golf in the morning!















Morgan and Hannah!















Drinking tea at the start of our trail.















On the trail















Frozen twigs - now this is winter!














Deer on the side of the road

Florida

Florida is filled with retirees, humidity and alligators... Right?

Wrong!

Florida is paradise on earth!

Hannah and I left Maryland and drove down to Florida - a cool 18 hours. Jenifer and Peter cleverly flew. They have a time share on Sanibel Island which is on the west coast of Florida.

We arrived to 78 F (26 C) weather. I shook the mothballs out of my swim shorts and headed down to the beach. The resort is right at the sea so it was a mere 30 yards away. Wow, after cold, white winter, warm sunshine feels SOOOO good! We spent our days riding bikes through the island, going to the beach, swimming and just generally chilling! We went to a few of the local restuarants! There was a mix up with Peter and Jenifer's car rental so they were upgraded as way of an apology to a Nissan 350Z. Hannah and I got to take it for a spin! You know the joke about the difference between a BMW driver and a hedgehog....With a hedgehog, the prick is on the outside...well, I can see why driving around in the silver 350z! After a incredible, warm, relaxing week in Florida, it was time to make the two day trip make to DC. We stayed over for a night in South Carolina visiting Anna Handley commonly known as Anna Banana (pronouced the South African way, Arna Barnarna) who we met while she was studying abroad in Cape Town. It was great to meet her and her boyfriend Nick! They were just about to spend 6 months in Mexico! We wish them all the best!

















Jenifer peddling up a storm!

















The three of us on top of the causeway between the mainland and Sanibel Island!

















Someone with a sense of humour at the visitor's centre!

















Jenifer and Hannah at the above mentioned visitor's centre, looking summery!

Fishing Report Florida modestly calls itself the fishing capital of the world. But maybe it has a point! I fished almost everyday and was lucky enough to meet up with some local fly fishermen who I got hold of through their fishing club! I went with Mike in his gheenoe to a backcountry area (mangrove lined channels and bays) near Naples. The gheenoe is quite a fantastic craft. It is very stable (i.e. two people can stand up and fish) and can run in really skinny water. I sight cast to two snook who were cruising in 6 inch water and the bigger one of the two shot forward and grabbed the fly! It was great to see! So first snook landed!
Snook are a bass fisherman's dream! The similarities are numerous! They hang around structure i.e. mangroves, rock pinacles. They love surface deerhair bugs and poppers. They fight hard and jump alot!
I blew a shot at a decent sized redfish with a bad cast! We continued cruising the shallows, but didn't get anymore strikes. Mike was a great guy to fish with and I learnt so much from him! He maneuvered the boat perfectly and had me in position all the time!

I fished the next morning in the causeway between Sanibel Island and the mainland. I got some ladyfish and some small spanish mackerel. The ladyfish are perfect replicas of skipjack just smaller but they fight hard for their small size! The following day I hired a kayak and fished tarpon bay. Tarpon Bay is a mangrove lined bay which is probably about 6 feet deep at the most! I did see a manatee which was pretty cool, but only decoded one small jack!

The final day I met up with another local fisherman, Charlie, who is originally from New York. He took me to the Ten Thousand Island area which is just north of the Everglades. We got to the slipway at about 6am. We were going for tarpon which were holding up in a backcountry river, but it was key to get there early. We run for a fair while, awaking up a dolphin who got quite a fright and took off at high speed! We found the tarpon rolling right at the top of the river. They were only teenagers around the 50lb mark! Try as we might, they wouldn't take our flies! It was still quite incredible to see them roll so close to us! We caught some small snook on our way back. The Ten Thousand islands area is a virtual fishing playground! There is just so much incredible water to fish...We did get a stark reminder that there must be balance even in this fishing paradise - we saw a large fishing boat 3 feet up and at the end of 30 feet deep path smashed through the mangroves...Hurricane Frances!

















The gheenoe! Just before going fishing with Mike!

















My first snook!

















The bay I caught it in! See the shallow clear water!

















In Charlie's gheenoe in the ten thousand islands area!