Take a deep breath- Obama is in the white house

This is a blog I wrote nearly four years ago, on inauguration day 20th January 2009. Now that Barack Obama has won again, i thought I should publish it.

 I had to consciously take deep diaphragmatic breaths. Goose pimples stood up on my arms like desert sand grains and I was at a loss as to whether to scream or shout. My eyes were glued to the television set and in the back of my mind I muttered babbled prayers of gratitude.
My mind was in a whirl and the overload was just intolerable as I became empty of known ways to express myself.
So this is it, the 'yes we can' man has been inaugurated and Barrack Obama will live in the white house. It is as though this is a figment of the world's collective imagination and all I want to do is pinch myself. How often can we know with unquestionable certainty that we are in the midst of a significant unfolding history. How can we fully appreciate the future impact on our world that we will have due to the outcomes of what has happened today?
I remember sitting in our family lounge having my hair braided and watching tv when the first plane plunged into the World Trade Centre. A momentous time in America and the world's history. I remember my words to my mother who was with me at the time. 'This is not an act of terrorism, it is an act of war', meanwhile the scrolling headlines blazing after the 'breaking news' title was reporting the possibility of a terrorist attack. That event heralded a profound change in travel and global security in general. This awareness of momentous, history defining events, brought a few others to remembrance.

When the final verdict of the infamous OJ. Simpson trial was given, I was in a mall in Halifax , Nova Scotia buying a bagel. I stood in front of the bagel stand watching a tv nearby and scarcely noticed that the mall had almost stood still in front of all the various televisions as people waited and watched with keen interest or listened to a radio broadcast. I remember feeling disappointed that he was let off and I remember how strangers struck up conversations and shared ideas according to which camp they belonged. I remember the crusty deliciousness of my bagel and the buttery after taste and the concerns I nursed as I wondered what effect this delectable wonder would have on my hips and waistline. I remember reflecting that the bagel contained as much dough as a loaf of bread and all this a single adult portion. Why is everything mega sized in the geographic zone called North America?

Fast forward a few years to the time when Bill and Hilary Clinton visited Ghana. The excitement in town was palpable, and we started seeing strange looking people about town some weeks prior to their arrival. I guess they were the advance party/security detail. By the time we had navigated the newly created one way systems and avoided all the closed off streets and security barricades, my eldest daughter and I missed seeing President and Hilary Clinton speeding by in their armored car down the Kanda-Nima highway . We were just in time to see their tail lights, but not them. However we did catch the excitement of the throng of adults and children waving flags as they flanked the roads. The headmistress of my daughter's school and some teachers in a bid to keep a keen eye on the children and catch a sight of the Clintons themselves, were seated on chairs in the central divide of the dual carriage way. I remember laughing inwardly at the absurdity of their watch station. They did their level best to keep order whilst obviously bursting to go amok themselves. Our disappointment at missing the main show, was partly minimized by the sight of air force one kro-kro eye as we say in Naija or filli-filli to be more culturally appropriate to Ghana. She was parked majestically on the tarmac and a gaggle of us pinned our faces like convicts in cages to the wire mesh, all wide eyed and making various noises of appreciation. Air force one was certainly a precious bird as we spotted various security officers at vantage points on terra firma, and was that an American marine standing on top of the control tower?

An estimated one million human beings are reported to have thronged the streets and lawns around and leading up to the White House to see the world's premier family process to this unsurpassed, un-duplicated piece of real estate, their new home. I am absolutely fascinated just thinking about the planning and logistic effort that this kind of event undoubtedly generates. How even as we watched the carcade preceded by its formidable arrow of shiny white outriders, the Bush's ready packed bags were being relocated and replaced by the Obama's. The idea that the procession may have been so slow to give more time to the baggage exchange effort set up various thoughts in my mind. In my house, I often joke to my house guests that whatever is left behind is automatically inherited by me! What will the Bush's accidentally leave behind? Ex presidential preferential jam in the fridge or a particular brand of loo roll or what?

I just imagined the discourse going on between key players and 'go to' people , whispered over discreet radio phones. Verbal status reports as to the progress of the baggage and how that relates to the overall anticipated timing of each forward activity. I imagined five minute updates going something like "30% as at oh, dot, dot, dot hours. Dot, dot, dot seconds, please be advised that we are now 3% in excess of scheduled ETA, over!" Or some thing such as that.
The CNN situation room was another matter all together as we all looked at various collages of real time photos being sent in and zoomed in to see various things being drawn to our attention. Oh here is Arnold Schwarzenegger or some other celebrity in the crowd. As well as a comparative analysis of satellite shots of the lawns around the White House from two weeks ago as compared to today. Plan views of swarms of ants were apparently crowded throngs of people! Ah, was it only I that was gob smacked or is it not amazing how the presenter's fingertips were jabbing his giant screen and every poke conjured up all kinds of images form the ground, and we were told some were shot from satellites in outer space! How is this different from what we used to think was wizardry/ sorcery? Hmm, thank God they have stopped stoning witches and sorcerers!

I found the proceedings most engaging, and my excitement was high. It was so lovely to see the Obama children as well, such beautiful girls, and Michelle's power dressing was tops.

Eventually, I sank into a deep sleep, my breathing now evened out more from sheer exhaustion. Eventually my mind could catch up to the unfolding events and all the excitement. Eventually, my psyche began in some measure to embrace the dawn of a new era as a reality and there was no need to pinch myself. Eventually, the extracted O2 from my deep breaths registered to my brain and the world was suddenly a better place.