After Historic Weekend, We Return to Start of Obama Campaign

As we arrived in Chicago early Wednesday morning, my mind was still racing, and, frankly, a little cloudy after getting only 10-15 hours of shut-eye the entire weekend.

I quickly tried to process everything I had experienced during arguably the most historically significant presidential inauguration to date in our nation's short history.

Then, I simply listed words--both positive and negative--that I thought best captured the essence of inauguration weekend: exhilarating, inspiring, exhausting, frigid, patriotic, politeness, selflessness, jubilant, frustrating, carefree, surreal and proud.

Of course, words are limiting. When we need them the most, they often fail us. And after this weekend especially, I'm reminded that it's the captivating images and electric atmosphere on the Mall that I'll remember the most.

Fittingly, the last picture I took on my camera speaks to the idea that it's the images that can and will instantly transport me back to a time when this country took an incredible and monumental step forward in the right direction.

Hundreds of signs like this one littered the street near H St. and 15th St. Volunteers ecouraged people to write their own messages in the blank space and take them home as a keepsake.