Rude awakening

The first thought that entered my head when I woke up on this Day 2 of Barack Obama's presidency was, what if he can't do it? What if, despite his best and sincerest efforts, he is too young, too inexperienced, the problems—and the world—too big and complex? This, of course, is what I would be feeling were I were the one who had found herself elected President of these United States, stepping into the Oval Office and thinking, oh my God, what the hell am I doing here? (Come to think of it, this is similar to what I was feeling the day after I got married—the wedding was fun and kind of a fairy tale-come-true thing, but it didn't take long for the finality of the whole business to sink in in a decidedly uneasy way.)

I didn't invite that thought into my head this morning, but it was there, and it hung around for a bit after I first got up and got the coffee started. Then I listened to NPR and heard that the President had already begun working on the country's business, getting right to it in his quiet, smart way, and I knew he, and we, were going to be OK. Yes, we will.

N.B.: Alison gently reminded me that Aretha Franklin sang "America" (aka, "My Country 'Tis of Thee") at the Inauguration, not, as I said in yesterday's post, the National Anthem. I stand corrected, and plead special leniency, as I think "America" would make a fine replacement for our current anthem, almost as good as my first choice, "America the Beautiful."