Cold, miserable and otherwise exhilarated, George Zinn telephoned from Washington, D.C., yesterday with the late-breaking news that America has a new president.
He saw it with his own eyes.
Surrounded by 400,000 new friends, a few of whom were trying to drown out the proceedings, George got within two blocks of the review stand yesterday to see another George sworn in as president.
Some people save up to go to the World Series, others to trek through the Himalayas, others to see the Pyramids.
George saved up to go to Washington and watch a presidential inauguration in person.
And he was not alone.
The crazy thing, George was saying, is that the thousands of protesters who invaded Washington for this particular inauguration almost completely stopped shouting when George W. Bush stood up to deliver his inauguration speech.
"I thought it was interesting," said George, talking from a phone booth in a Metro station late Saturday afternoon, "when the swearing-in was taking place, there was an obvious orchestrated effort (by the protesters) to out-shout the speaker, but as soon as the president was sworn in they all shut up, like they wanted to listen to what he had to say."
Besides being generally loud and obnoxious, George said the protesters weren't particularly bothersome. "I didn't see any rough stuff," he said. "Nothing got out of control that I saw."
George did note that it appeared there were more police officers than protesters, and he saw other signs of precautionary safeguards that suggested security was a top priority. He noted that all the city's manhole covers were welded down, for instance, and that all public mailboxes were locked shut. Nobody could mail a letter Saturday in Washington, or a mailbox bomb.
Most buildings, too, were locked tight, which meant there weren't many places for the masses to get warm.
But on the bright side, George reported, as soon as President Bush was through with his speech and his ride in the inauguration parade, lots of people left the parade route, suddenly leaving people like George with front row seats.
He was front and center when the float carrying Utah's own Mormon Tabernacle Choir came by. The choir was singing "God Bless America" and was in fine voice, George reported, although he suspected the choir members were lip-syncing the words.
"My guess is it was taped," George said. "It sounded too good. I don't see how they could have that big of a sound in the rain."
Plus it was 20 degrees with a whipping wind.
Crummy weather notwithstanding, George was happy to be there. "I was impressed seeing the transition of government right before my eyes," he said. "It was an experience I'm glad I had."
"I did think it was interesting that when I tried to pick up the broadcast of the inauguration on a portable radio I brought to the parade, only a couple of AM stations were carrying it," he added. "I'd have thought it would have been on more stations right in D.C."
As he signed off, George said his plans for inauguration night were sketchy. He hadn't scored a ticket for any of the eight inaugural balls, but he'd packed a bow tie and cowboy boots just in case he ran into one.
The town is full of cowboy boots, he said, and full of people who know how to wear them.
"There was a lot of Texas in today's parade," said George, "I get a strong feeling we're going to get a lot of Texas the next four years."
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.