Inauguration Day

I’m not American. I didn’t participate in the US election in any way, shape, or form. But, like the rest of the world, I was captivated by Barack Obama’s election. My husband and I stayed up to watch his speech in Chicago. It was one of those moments when you know that you’re watching history. When you feel like the course of the world could change.

Today is Inauguration Day. And thousands of miles and a whole country away from Washington, DC you can still feel the electricity. The hope. I share in the hope that things can be different, that change can happen. So, to my American friends, I want to say Happy Inauguration Day! Yes you could – and you did!

Jim Bourg / REUTERS

As for me, today I’m really feeling the sting of not having a TV. Jon is at work early this morning, making sure that the good citizens of BC can watch the inauguration, but I will miss it. This, my friends, is the real trade-off. You can always catch episodes of your favourite shows online the next day. But the front seat to history that TV affords? There’s really no good substitute for that.

Edited to add: OK, I was able to catch the inauguration streaming live on CNN. Although this sort of thing really is still better on TV than on the computer. Sitting in a computer chair and watching a lower-quality version just isn’t the same.