Anticipation...

I scarcely have had the time to really think about tomorrow.

This weekend we've had company, with Jenny and Morgan visiting from Albuquerque, and somewhere in all this I'm studying, driving back and forth from Portland to do airport runs and touristy stuff with my friends.

This afternoon, I'm at Starbucks making good use of a few hours when Brian can watch Nora, finishing my Computer Science homework for the week and studying mitosis for Wednesday's quiz.

In the midst of my trying to determine the difference between chromatin and kinetichores, the big thing on my mind is tomorrow's inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama.

I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with people lately, some passive by reading boards of what people are thinking and saying, and some active as some of us Obama supporters discuss amongst ourselves how excited we are about tomorrow.

I took just a few minutes during lunch to watch a little CNN and see what the coverage of the inauguration is bringing, and I delight as I watch so many of my lucky countrymen and women converge on the capitol.

I feel sorry for those who don't "get" the hope for the future that Obama signifies to many of us, really I do. I wonder if they could put themselves in my shoes for one minute, not adoring Obama as some savior -- not at all. But thinking for a minute about the profoundness of the moment that he just might be able to set a new course for America, even if/when he isn't able to fix it all.

It makes me want to ask people who doubt him, to think for one minute about the possibility that those who support him are correct in our estimation of his character and vision for this country. That maybe we are right in wanting to be less hawkish in war and more willing to work with those outside our borders. That maybe just maybe, the pursuit of peace and environmental stability are good things, even if they're hard and come at a cost.

We'll see. I find myself quietly contemplating so much about this coming 24 hours, that I can't possibly put it all into words.

But as I read about "No drama Obama" as he goes about his day kissing babies and promoting national service, I wonder if people can sieze on the good he's asking us to put forward in ourselves. We're not going to agree on everything. But can't we look for the common ground?

I still hope we can.

We are not all black and white, good or bad. We're all shades of gray. And somewhere in here is a common thread of decency that sews us all together into one country. I hope people will take a minute and look for THAT in themselves and those who are different from themselves.

And for now, I anticipate the future, with its tentative hope that the ship can be righted.

Just for a minute.