Yes We Can

I wasn't going to go to Pueblo today, I had decided I'd rather stay in bed. Emblematic of my life of late, doing all I can just to function, forget about doing anything else. But, I made myself go anyway.

I got directions from the internet - how did I ever get anywhere without it? - and hit the highway. Fortunately, I had plenty of gas and some cash, so I could stop and grab some breakfast. Pueblo, Colorado, here I come!

Colorado is a battleground state for the upcoming election. Barack Obama and his surrogates have made many stops here in the past few months. Many. This is his fourth or fifth himself, second to Pueblo. Michelle Obama and Joe Biden have also made the trip alone, both to Colorado Springs. Hah, Denver ISN'T the only city in the state!

The event itself was almost unremarkable. There were the expected vendors and crowd, a line that stretched a mile at least, and the volunteers recruiting other volunteers. I felt a little guilty for not signing up, but I just can't do that right now.

My camera had suffered an injury. After leaving Michelle Obama's speech, I ran to the grocery store. I brought all my groceries home, using the bags to transport other stuff, and the bag holding my camera crashed to the floor. Unfortunately, the fall damaged the door over the batteries in my camera, so they don't stay in. I had to physically hold it shut. Duct tape, sadly, did not work. So I had a lot of pictures that I missed, because my camera turned itself off.

After passing through security, we found ourselves a spot on the street to await the big moment. Two hours. It's a miracle I can even feel my legs right now. But it was worth the wait. First, General Wesley Clark spoke. Then, when they arrived from the airport, Michelle Obama spoke. The crowd went wild when she was introduced. I was able to catch the occasional glimpse between the two giants that stood in front of me. When she introduced Barack, though, she couldn't even get out the full introduction before the crowd erupted into cheers and, yes, a bit of a frenzy. Unreal.

He spoke of the things he often speaks of, but they sounded so much better when he was just a few hundred yards in front of me. I was fortunate, I was able to keep the batteries in my camera for long enough to get several shots. Unlike my photos from Michelle's appearance on Tuesday, most of these came out. Yay!

I'd already voted last week, but I can tell you, if I hadn't, I'd have been raring to go for Tuesday.

Naturally, my depression is never far from my mind. How could it be? I'm just hoping to ride this positive wave for long enough to fill out my assistance forms and complete some homework for Monday. I still don't know what I'm going to do about my home, I guess I'll just wait until I lose it. But for now, I'm excited. I'm hopeful. For our country if not for me.