D.C.

My D.C. trip proved that history is difficult to see from the middle of it.

Whether critical, supported, excited, or disappointed by Obama's election, suffice to say history was made. Lisa told me not since LBJ has there been so many to flock to an inauguration.

To get a run down of the day, go to my twitter account, www.twitter.com/timdjagielo

My phone died right at the Washington Monument, and it was really too cold to take the gloves off and thumb-type.

The day is easy to describe. We arrived in the D.C. compound at 4:30 a.m. and were off the bus by 6:30. I loaded myself down with equipment. I probably looked like a combat photographer with two cameras, lenses, a strobe, a voice recorder and pen and paper. It was surreal with all the police lights flashing through the night, and catching glimpses of the outlines of military humvees at checkpoints.

We were on our feet and outside until we returned to the bus at about 6p.m. that night.

My friend John and I were either working on heading towards the inauguration, or getting out of it after it ended.

We flocked with people towards gates we couldn't enter and were turned away, we stood beside 2.8 million people watching a screen shivering with our cameras, while being jostled by the impatient.

We witnessed a protest by a conservative group, and have never seen a presidents face on so many buttons, hats, bags, and coats, bejeweled and in print.

We were probably 20% of the populatation of attendees as whites, demographically.

Despite the discomfort, people really tried to work together and be patient. It could have easily been a massive disaster with that many people, and that few restrooms and access to water food and heat.

I recorded an hour of sound, shot about 30 minutes of video, and took over a thousand pictures. My camera weighed about 30 pounds by the time I met my releif back on the bus, and my teeth stopped chatering and my body stopped hurting.

Poor John would have like to have been carried by the end of the day.

I learned that the ends make the whole trip worth it. I couldn't have gotten these pictures from my couch at home on TV (I actually don't have a couch or TV.)

It's worth discomfort and getting your hands dirty when your life is enriched in the long-run and you have a testament to the ability to handle an historic situation.