A photo of my wife & I a few minutes after President Obama was sworn in. After working hard on helping him win the nomination & then the election, we felt we wanted to make the trek from our home in Oregon to Washington, D.C. to be part of this historic moment. It was an ordeal in some ways - blistery cold, huge crowds, blockaded streets, numerous security checkpoints - but it was glorious moment & one we're glad to have been a part of. Everyone we met there was friendly, helpful & hopeful about the future. Despite the gloomy economic situation & a host of international problems, we now have a president who is intelligent, articulate, inspirational & has expressed a desire to govern through consensus. Can he break through the gridlock of bitter partisan politics that has made our government so dysfunctional? I don't know, it won't be easy, but I think behind all the rhetoric, ideology & nastiness that has come from both the left & the right, there is a desire on the part of most Americans to unite for the common good. We have an opportunity now to shift gears & move from a politics based on fear & negativity to one based on hope & optimism - if we choose to seize the moment...