I had a pretty amazing bike ride home through the Mall this evening. I have yet to experience a scene of security rituals this intensified in Washington, let alone in my entire lifetime. And because the State of the Union is happening so close to home, there is really no way around it. I had to navigate through the center of it all. Like some sort of superhero, I sped through the innards, and layer upon layer the protection built up around me the closer to the Capital I got. Right now, the police cars start from at least over at the White House and they continue for maybe 20 blocks. They sit nestled together in two or three car clusters in the center of the Mall (actually in the bike lane). Flashing lights, sirens, flashing barricades, and vehicles of all kinds sit idle blocking side streets, watching. I'm surprised I didn't kill myself from the amount of distraction. I have never seen so many different forms of transportation at once in one specific area, moving, making turns, sitting; helicopters, large vans, mini vans, SUV, cars, tiny one door cruisers, bikes. The closer I got, the more these multiplied and the louder the sound of it all. Beside and in front of the Capitol, red flares line the streets as do standing men in great numbers. I can still hear it all from my apartment through the window right now. The humming above, a siren every few minutes, various buzzing. The address starts in thirty minutes. I'll be watching it from here while he speaks protected, layer upon layer, a few blocks down the street.
