We're going to spend today waxing nostalgic, just to warn everyone up front. Because four years ago I traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the Inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama's first term in office. Next Monday will be his second swearing-in ceremony (he will actually be officially sworn in on Sunday, as the Constitution dictates, but since it falls on a Sunday the public event will be held on Monday -- which just happens to be Martin Luther King Jr.'s federal holiday as well). On top of this symbology, exactly 150 Januaries ago American witnessed President Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. So it's going to be a meaningful event, one assumes, in all sorts of ways.

Sadly, I will not be attending this one. Last year ChrisWeigant.com World-Wide Media Empire, LLC (ahem) got the chance to attend both the yearly confab of liberally-minded bloggers known as Netroots Nation as well as the Democratic National Convention (as a fully-credentialed member of the press), and so flying again to the East Coast is beyond our resources at this time.

But it isn't going to stop us from making a big deal over the Inauguration, rest assured. historical parallels aside, next week will mark the juncture from Obama's first term in office to his second. Which seems a dandy time to review his first term and offer up some hopes and thoughts on what we'll see in his second term.

But before we get to all of that (next week), we're going to take a brief look backwards to the heady days of 2009. Obama's wasn't the first Inauguration I've attended, but it was the first I'd seen in a long time. Here is a full list of the on-the-ground reports I filed during Obama's first Inauguration:

Sunday -- "As I Went Walking That Ribbon Of Highway"
Monday -- "The Day Before The Big Day"
Tuesday -- "Twenty-One Howitzer Salute"
Wednesday -- "'I Was There!' -- My Experience Of The Inauguration Of President Obama [Parts 1 & 2]"
Thursday -- "'I Was There!' -- My Experience Of The Inauguration Of President Obama [Part 3]"
Friday -- Friday Talking Points [62] -- Obama's Inaugural Speech
Saturday -- My Inauguration Photos
Sunday -- My Final Inaugural Report -- The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

This contains personal reactions, petty griping, and the sheer joy of the crowds, in no particular order. From the sublime to the ridiculous, in other words. Don't believe me? On re-reading these pieces, the following paragraph stood out (to me, at least):

Next up was Aretha Franklin singing "My Country 'Tis Of Thee." What is it with all the hat-haters out there? The first thing I noticed was her hat. I turned to my wife and said, "That's some hat!" And now I find out people are making fun of the hat? Get a grip, people. Her hat was fabulous (to get all fashion-y here), and although most women couldn't have worn it without looking at least a little bit silly, Aretha Franklin pulled it off without a hitch. Her hat's statement was: "I am Aretha Franklin's hat, and you better get used to me -- because she looks better wearing me than any woman in Washington since Jacqueline Kennedy and her pillboxes. You got a problem with that?" Her hat spoke to me, in other words. Anyone who didn't hear this message just wasn't listening hard enough.

The things some people find to criticize are beyond me, at times (here's the hat in question, see what you think -- to me, that hat still speaks: "Even four years later, I look pretty damn good, don't I?").

To kick things off for Obama's second Inauguration celebrations, though, I thought I'd run the entire column I managed to post on the day of his first Inauguration. This may, quite possibly, be the shortest article I've ever written, due to sheer exhaustion after being up since the wee hours that day, and freezing my nether regions off while waiting for the show to begin. In actual fact, I'm amazed I was able to post anything that day, so no wonder it's short.

But it still sums up the day pretty nicely, even looking back four years later, I think. You decide....

Twenty-One Howitzer Salute (originally published 1/20/09)

As usual, the first official recognition of our new president was a twenty-one gun salute. By field artillery.

Now, I have heard howitzer fire in Washington before. I heard a military band perform the "1812 Overture" -- properly, as it was originally written -- with cannons used as percussion. [Incidentally, this is something I highly recommend to any who have the chance to hear such a rare performance.]

In other words, I know what it sounds like. But the amazing thing to me is that the crowd was cheering so loudly after our 44th president was sworn in that it was all but impossible to hear the cannon fire. I do not exaggerate -- even though they ran it through the monstrously-loud sound system.

The crowd was so ecstatic in making a joyful noise that it almost completely drowned out electrically-amplified artillery fire.

That summed up the day, for me, more poignantly than anything else.

May Barack Obama continue to overwhelm America in just such a fashion, for years to come.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant