By Dickie Dixon

Belated Birthdays:  January 21^st:  Jessica Barrow

For Posterity’s Eyes  January birthdays:  26^th:  Judy Ramsey 27^th:  Fred Preston, Brittany Duke, Judy (McKinney) Maddux 28^th:  Phyllis Keehnen, LaVonda Hutson, Janice (Stevens) Taylor 29^th:  Taylor Grigsby, Alvin Terral, Jr., Ken Morton, James Wagstaff  30^th:  Iris (Stoner) Reddy 31^st:  Zakiya Curl

It’s Been a Year Now  Last year at this time nine East Texas newspapers gave me the privilege of covering the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2017.  I wanted to remember my impressions for you, the readers, so you can share in my experiences.

My oldest daughter Sasha and I flew in to the Raleigh/Durham North Carolina airport on Tuesday, January 17^th so I could go on from there to cover the inauguration and she could babysit her younger sister Sara’s children.  Sara and her husband were to celebrate their anniversary (on the 20^th), and Sasha and my sister Laura were to babysit her children while they were gone.  The inauguration would take place on Friday, the 20^th, but I would need to ride the bus up there on Thursday.

Many things took longer than they should:  most notably, the bus ride to D.C. on Thursday, and the trip back from D. C. on Saturday.  First, the bus, a small double decker was an hour and a half late.  I sat by a young Chinese woman working on her Masters in Economics at Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.  It was refreshing to see her there and to get to visit with her because she hoped to attend the inauguration, too.  The bus ride took longer to get there because of the crowds.

I arrived at Union Station, the bus terminal in downtown D.C. about 4:00 p.m. that Thursday; I needed to pick up my ticket to enter the grounds for the inauguration by 5:30.  Although it was not too far, I had to find it, and the battery on my cell phone went down.  Fortunately, I had planned ahead; I had two fully charged ‘juice packs” in my coat, so all I had to do was connect my phone with one of them so I could call U. S. Congressman Louie Gohmert to tell his staff I was on my way.  When I found the building, the line seemed somewhat lengthy, but it moved faster than I thought it would.  Once in and screened, I obtained my ticket, some goodies, and I was gone.

I had to stay outside D.C. in Germantown, New Jersey.  Fellow travellers on the subway were very helpful, and one very attractive young black woman employee stood out as being the most helpful.  (I had expected to experience a high degree of jadedness from people who live in
D.C.)  One traveler actually took me from the last stop on the subway to my hotel.  Once there I resolved to go to bed early and get up early.  I did both, getting up about 4:30 although deciding not to go to D.C. that early.

I arrived about 9:30-10:30 that morning at the locale where I would watch the inauguration.  Security was tight—even down to making sure your camera really was a camera.  I met all sorts of people from all over, the most notable of which was a 30 year old woman whose husband was killed in the line of duty as a policeman.  I was also impressed with how connected with President Trump the crowd was.

The next day was very memorable.  When I arrived at the subway, the entrance was choked with 300-400 woman marchers. The main lesson to be learned from the women’s march personally was simply this:  Activists care very little how they intrude in to your life just so long as they score their point(s).  That comes out a little harshly, but because there were so many of them I missed my bus in D.C., and it took me fifteen hours to get back to my daughter’s in Durham.  And that’s the way it is:  it’s been a year now.

Send your queries to dickie.dixon@hotmail.com by mail to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 15-1001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001 or by phone to (9360 240-8378