Living less than a mile from the White House presented not only really great access to the events of the inauguration but also challenges in getting around the city. Most of the events were close enough for me to walk to, but little did I know that there were some (like the inauguration itself) where I found that the only way for me to get home was to walk. On a good day, that 2 mile jaunt wouldn’t have presented much of a problem, but I sprained my right ankle on Saturday, the 17th of January, while holding my grandson SBJ. I stepped down into his living room, only to find a small tennis size transparent ball under my foot that took us both to the carpeted floor, thankfully him more gently than me.

(This is what my ankle looked like today after 5 days of no Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.)

This walk home from the Capitol occurred after I’d stood for about 4 1/2 hours waiting to get in to the ceremonies and walked the long way from the Capitol to Union Station with MA. My plan was to walk down K Street until I could catch a bus to take me west toward my street. Little did I know that all buses had been re-routed in preparation for the parade, so I found myself on a blocked off K Street, moving north to L St. for a block or so, then it was blocked off, moving north to M St. (still blocked off), moving north to N St. which was open to pedestrian traffic only – YAY!

I made my way home and was interested to see all the security.

One of the blocks near my house had police officers standing every 15 yards or so with buses blocking vehicular traffic and barricades everywhere. I yelled out at one of the police officers “Where are you from?” and he answered “Austin TX” – how cool is that? A street very close to my home being guarded by Austin PD!

Normally, living in DC, we see plenty of military, but this was like no other time, as you’d see guys in cammies everywhere walking the street. You know how they say if you see a soldier, thank them for their service. Well, I would have lost my voice if I’d thanked every military person I saw over the past week. But some people really had fun with them, and I’m thinking they enjoyed the attention!

Mostly the people going to the events were fine with the security and inconvenience. It was just something we all anticipated and made the best of.

But patience wore thin upon leaving the events, as people were tired and cold and less acceptable of all the street closings and delays.

I can honestly say that although I enjoyed directing and assisting visitors around my city, I’m glad that the barricades are being hauled off and the city is returning to normal, or more normal, with each passing day.