Washington, D.C. -- Exciting Times ....

I thought that by leaving the -25 degree weather behind in Chicago, I would find warmer weather. Well, it's somewhat warmer, but it's still VERY COLD and WINDY here in D.C. Still below zero with the wind chill, but I guess not as cold as it is at home.

The plane ride was somewhat eventful, in fact, I've never experienced turbulence like it before (FYI, neither had the stewardess who had been working for over thirty-five years). During the trip, we dropped three times, only later to find out it was about 50-100 feet each time. It felt kind of like a ride at Great America and I was having a blast, but it was short-lived when I remembered that my ticket didn't include the "added experience."

The educational seminars have been informative, as usual, and tomorrow, we will talk with Senator Durbin to lobby support for community colleges.

It is such an amazing time to be in Washington at this of the year! The Potomac Primaries are tomorrow, so all the buzz in D.C. is about who is going to win. Today, out of mere chance and a little ingenuity, we ended up at the University of Maryland for the Barak Obama rally. The line was over a mile long, stretching and bending clear across the campus. Amazingly, with over 17,000 people crammed inside of the stadium, Barak was fortunate enough to end up speaking only twenty feet away from me! (Side note -- not the closest we've been. In 2006, he used the urinal right next to me down in the tunnels under the Congressional buildings -- I'm pretty sure he remembered me today).

What was awe inspiring about today was the fact that there were so many young people that wanted to be involved in the process of electing the next President of the United States! This is so refreshing in a society that appears to have become complacent and distant from becoming involved within their own government. While talking with some of the people who attended, they said they didn't know who they were going to vote for this coming election, but they wanted to be informed.

This Democratic rally came on the heels of attending the local Republican rally at the Brandywine in Dixon. That place was packed, too, but not quite as much as this Presidential primary. It's been very refreshing to see everyone becoming actively involved within their own governments and looking to make a change.

Each and every generation has a time when it must meet its calling, perhaps that time is now. Change is good, yet active participation is necessary for that change to take place. I'm really excited to see what the rest of the week has to bring. Stay tuned!