Alert reader Heidi saved me this morning, and God bless her for it. Saved YOU, too! hahaha, if I may be permitted internet-speak.

In real life, I was reacting to the inaugural festival here in town. It was quite an extraordinary performance. Mr. Obama’s words soared as he outlined all the great stuff we are going to do together in the next four years. Curiously, he started with the Constitution, and then went on to outline how more collective action will cement our personal liberties, and how two enormous bankrupt programs (Social Security and Medicare) actually make us stronger.

It actually sounded sort of- well, I don’t know. Orwellian?

Then there was that climate change thing. I scratched my head on that. NOAA released an extreme weather chart the other day- here it is:

If there is a trend hiding in there that requires dramatic action, I can’t quite find it. The 1930s were something, weren’t they? But I am not a politician, or a government-funded scientist, so what do I know?

Anyway, it was a great address, vintage Obama on the campaign stump, though for the life of me I don’t know what he was campaigning for. I thought that was over.

So that is why I was so excited to see something that had nothing to do with politics. As you know, there is a movement called “Wreaths Across America” that places seasonal decorations on the graves of those who are interred in National Cemeteries.

It is a touching tribute, and requires a lot of coordination to get all the privately-donated wreaths to the graves, and then, when the season is done, pick them up again with respect.
I missed the opportunity to volunteer to put them out. It is not, I discovered, too late to help pick them up.

For those of us here in DC, the clean-up of wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) will happen on Saturday, January 26, 2013. There is no rain/snow date alternative. This is going to get done, inclement weather or not.

Heidi reminded me that the ANC Welcome Center Parking Lot will open at 0700 and will have free parking until 1:00pm. ANC is encouraging the use of Metro to get there if at all possible.

The pedestrian gates will open at 0800 this Saturday, the 26th of January.

For us here in town, that means (clockwise from the north end of the cemetery) the Ord-Weitzel gate (near the Iwo Jima Memorial and Rosslyn Metro), the main cemetery and the Visitors Center gates (nearest Arlington Cemetery Metro), the south Maintenance Complex gate (nearest Pentagon and Pentagon City Metro), the South Gate next to the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall main gate, and the Fort Myer Old Post Chapel gate.

That last one is the one I use with my cemetery pass, since I can get access to Fort Myer without inspection.

They say parking within the Cemetery is restricted to those vehicles with ANC Family Passes and those with valid Handicap Permits. All Vehicles with ANC Family Passes and Handicap Permits arriving before the cemetery’s opening at 0800 will be required to enter and park at the Welcome Center Parking Lot Upper Level. Once the Cemetery opens at 0800, the early arrivals will then be allowed to enter the Cemetery proper via the gate adjacent to the parking lot and be directed to park along Patton Drive.

Those with Handicap Permits will again be allowed to park in the Administrative/Employee Parking Lot, and since I am driving around with Raven’s, that is just what I think I might do.

Anyway, my thanks to Heidi. If I did not have a public Service Announcement to send you today I would have had to think about politics again.

Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra