Inauguration reflections

Most of us in the newsroom are news junkies.

When something big happens, we know. We all have little anecdotes to share about similar experiences.

As I watched the inauguration Tuesday, I tried to pick out familiar places in that vast sea of thousands and thousands of faces. I wanted to see if I could find some of the places I knew, places I'd been in the area.

Several times, I've enjoyed a hot dog sitting on a park bench in the middle of the Mall. The view from one of those benches allowed me to watch the traffic from the Capitol to the Washington Monument or beyond. I've watched a laser light show — when those were the latest thing — on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And I've hurried from one end of the grassy plain to the other, hoping I could get to the Metro station in time to make the train.

But I was amazed by those around me who said they had never been to Washington. I'm lucky, I guess, that my parents valued history. My father worked in a family business; you know, the kind that if you're in town, you're working.

So for vacations, we left town. And we often went somewhere that offered free, or very cheap, entertainment.

You can't get much cheaper than the Smithsonian. From its seemingly endless storehouse of planes, trains and automobiles, to artwork, to the majesty of George Washington's home on the Potomac River, the area is an endless wonder for Americans and foreign visitors alike. If you stay out of the gift shops, it isn't very expensive, either.

I gave up counting how many times I've visited the capital. But I always see something new.

I've been on a bus tour in the evening. Seeing all the sights at night ... that was special. I remember going when I was 7, thinking how lonnnnnng the blocks were, especially since I had blisters on my feet.

I remember finding the name of a nurse from Ohio who was killed in Vietnam, one of only a handful of nurses who have their names on the Vietnam Wall. And an evening visit to the Jefferson Memorial, reading his words as the basin water sparkled behind us, was memorable.

Washington should be our Mecca, especially if, as Abraham Lincoln proposed in 1838, that laws are our political religion.

Here's hoping you can get there soon.