...and southern California needs rain. The humidity is down to 7%, which is as close to zero as doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

Got up early and watched the Inauguration Ceremony, from convocation by Sen. Schumer to benediction by Rev. Luis Leon (himself an immigrant from Cuba, as is Richard Blanco, the inauguration poet). The broad spectrum of Americans was represented at the microphone: men, women, black, latino, white, straight, gay. The President wove many messages into his speech, the most familiar of which was from the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

I thought it was perhaps the speech of a lifetime, ending with a litany of "...our journey is not complete until..." including the tasks of inclusion and opportunity which remain to us. It was a speech dense with ideas, and people listened intently, unlike speeches of bombast and rhetoric in the recent past, which have caused much cheering and flag-waving, but little in the way of perception and reflection.

Combining emotion and intellect, there was a sense in today's Inauguration Speech of confidence and determination, inclusiveness and purpose, which I found heartening.