Strange and True

It was another snowy day today. As I trudged the 20 blocks to dance class this evening, I followed a woman dragging a crummy rolling suitcase.

At a crosswalk I looked up from the inch of slippery slush to see the unfortunate person hauling a suitcase down the icy sidewalks. She was slim and wore a tiny white leather coat over her stylish outfit. Her head was covered by a clear plastic rain bonnet.

This is the kind of rain bonnet that was advertised in the Harriet Carter catalog. Women wore these devices in the days when they had their hair done twice a week at a salon. I haven't seen one in a long time. Until today I haven't seen one on anyone under 30.

It made me smile.

Two hours later I was in the neighborhood pharmacy looking for contact solution. I walked up and down the aisles several times. At one point a man standing nearby said, "This is worse than a labyrinth!"

I looked up and did a double take. He looked like someone I knew. Who was it?

He looked like President Obama! He had the same facial features and hair. He was dressed in a president-casual black puffy parka and jeans.

I finally located the contact solution, and as I was examining the offerings the Presidential doppelganger walked past. "Still looking!" he said.

I asked him how often people tell him he resembles the President.

He smiled and shook his head. "Every day! Ha ha! Every day!"

Reclaiming Pride

I had a wrecked bathroom to clean. The ceiling began sagging months ago, and it finally fell in two weeks ago. The repair was about as messy as the ceiling crashing down.

I thought I would listen to the We Are One concert while cleaning. Instead, I was glued to the computer screen for the entire concert. I don't have a television, so I watched online.

Before the concert started, my throat was tight with oncoming tears. Seeing the crowd at the decorated Lincoln Memorial made real the big transfer of power about to happen.

It surprised me that I was so emotional. The songs were mostly standards and I tend to regard celebrities as uninteresting. Yet, seeing Bruce Springsteen perform "The Rising" with a full gospel choir before Lincoln's statue made me choke up. It set the tone. This country has been through eight hellish years and now we are on the road to recovery.

Performance after performance emphasized the things I love about this country. Things that are discussed but discounted, such as diversity, plurality, culture, and tolerance. I love that I live in a country with such a rich musical culture. Americans watching the inauguration of a leader in France, Russia, China, or Brazil would most likely not be able to hum along to the tunes sung in celebration of those leaders. American music is popular world wide. I suspect most foreigners would recognize at least a third of the songs played at this concert.

I love that much of the music popular in this country has been made by disenfranchised and impoverished people -- from slaves and farm workers to rappers and American Idol winners. I loved seeing a gay men's choir sing with Josh Grobin and Broadway star via Trinidad Heather Headley. I loved that country superstar Garth Brooks was backed by a group of beaming, energetic teenagers that represented just about every race. I love that he generously gave one of those teenagers a moment in the spotlight.

U2s performance summed it up for me. Here were four men that grew up poor in Dublin, Ireland. At the inauguration ceremony of our country's first African-American president they played their hopeful song about Martin Luther King, Jr. and nonviolence on the very steps where MLK delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Bono basically told the audience that he was proud of America for this achievement. That the world would once again look upon the United States with respect.

I realized at that moment that this inauguration marks this country's shift from being an international disgrace to being the pride of the world. Although this country is in the grip of a crisis, it feels is as if we are emerging mindfully from a dark age into a renaissance.