Tides of change

I watched the inauguration this morning.

Thinking on the historic nature of this event, I think about all the people dead now who never saw a black president, and all the children not yet born for whom it will be a given. And all the people alive at this moment who will see it in different ways because of their age.

It occurred to me that in terms of significance, my sister will probably see Obama's inauguration similarly to the way I saw 9/11. Everyone around me was making a huge deal of it, so I knew it was important, but I was really too young and ignorant to understand at the time. I can only really appreciate its importance in retrospect. I wonder if her (our) school is trying to get across to those younger kids the historical context of it. Seems like the sort of thing they might do. I bet in the high school, at least the social studies teacher made his class watch some of the ceremony.

In his speech, Obama hit every point that I hoped he would. He touched on reforms for energy policy and foreign policy; he addressed inequality of opportunity and "reject[ed] as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

Obama's catchword has been "hope." A poet who read after his address referred to "love." I was filled with a rising spirit today that compares well to both. I love this world, I hope Obama will turn us around as he keeps saying he will, and I hope for continuing feelings of love for nature, my friends, my family, and myself.