Hunkering Down for the Obama-cane

I thought when I moved out of Florida in 2006 I would never have to use the phrase "hunkering down" again. But as more than two million people infuse the nation's capitol and temperatures hit numbers I haven't seen since I poked my head into the refrigerator, I find myself using those words again. As much as I want to be a part of the Inauguration Events, I've never been so happy to stay warm inside and watch the events on TV.

As I crossed over the Key Bridge tonight, trying not to hit the pedestrians walking home from the Inaugural Concert, I noticed a group of demonstrators in the triangular island. Their signs read "close Guantanamo"-- which is interesting since I think Obama said he had planned to do that. There were two men in orange jailsuits kneeling on the ground, hands behind their backs with black sacks over their heads near another sign about how torture was America's shame. I'm "used to" seeing such things in front of the White House, but Arlington? Really? Did the Secret Service relocate them? It just makes my couch look all the more enticing.

After Hurricane Charlie, people driving around Orlando saw things filling up spaces that they were not used to seeing. There were billboards laying in the middle of the freeway and trees wrapped in telephone wires like they were Christmas lights. Today, driving down Connecticut Ave, a main road through downtown DC, charter buses like giant dinosaurs lined the roads and bleachers on the mall sit like mysterious stones on a grassy landscape. Such anomalies are like telltale signs that a storm is coming. Stock up on water and batteries. You won't need duct tape, but this storm is likely to leave a lot of garbage in the streets and change a lot of people's lives.

For those who are wondering what it's like to live in Washington right now, it's similar to preparing for a storm: get all your errands run before Tuesday. Don't plan on driving around. More to come tomorrow...