A trip to the South

I just returned from a trip to Savannah, GA, with my partner, mother and aunt to see the sights and get to spend some time with my sister's prospective in-laws who relocated from my hometown to Brunswick, GA a few years ago. Our visit coincided with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. parade that - as luck would have it - passed right by our hotel. The townsfolk couldn't have been nicer, more hospitable or prouder of their beautiful city. It almost shocked me that Obama didn't carry the state.

I got to spend my 44th birthday in Savannah and came to the same conclusion I had come to so many years ago. There is much less that divides us than binds us together. I was hoping that President Obama's inaugural address would touch on those themes and I wasn't disappointed.

When I started my little blog - one of the more vain things I have done in awhile - I wasn't sure that my worldview was shared by many folks. I'm finding out that there are more fellow travelers than I ever would have imagined.

These are important days. I hope we can all look for ways to be honest with each other about our fears, ask questions even when we think that they are dumb and try to get to know each other a little better. Fannie Lou Hamer had it right all those years ago when she testified before Congress to lobby for passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Here's to you, Ms. Hamer. We have a long way to go but this is - as Churchill said - not the beginning of the end. It's the end of the beginning.