In Washington D.C.: A day of challenges and joy

The Herald's Julia Reynolds at the inauguration
Editor's note — Cell phone reception in Washington D.C. has been spotty all day. Text messages from Reynolds capturing the buzz of the day were lost somewhere in the ozone. This is from a phone conversation Reynolds and I had after she had successfully escaped the Capitol.
Reynolds: The day started at 5:30 a.m., I was on the train by 6:30 a.m., at our gate by 7:30 a.m. But then everything ground to a half and I almost didn't get in. Only reason we seemed to get in was because people ahead of us in line gave up in disgust. By 11 a.m. the crowd trampled over the fences and we got in. Everyone sort of ran in to the ticketed area. I got to hear Aretha which was my big thing. We couldn't follow the Obama speech because the sound seemed to cut in and out. It is just real nice to sit down, here at 3 p.m.
The crowd was packed together like sardines, but everyone seemed polite. You were smushed in with a big crowd , but it was a nice crowd to be with. I felt the cold in my fingers and feet.
Unfortunately, the physical things to deal with were distracting. In between it all was for a feeling of elation and that seemed to carry everyone through peacefully.
I've never seen anything like this before. Next time I'll watch it at home with my feet up. But this time I couldn't miss it, it was history. I've never seen so many people so excited about the same thing at one time. These were happy people.