Here, finally, it seems that this household may be well; the stomach bug appears to be gone, but, boy, did it leave its imprint! And this week has so many activities pending that one wonders if one can keep up. Inauguration has taken over!

So many people had waited for so long for this momentous occasion, that, the tendency is perhaps to overemphasize that fact we now have a black president of the United States. Yet, as always, there are also those who would prefer to soft-soap the issue, saying, "American president" and glide over the bit about some African blood background. Wasn't it true for past American presidents, their families were just from the European side, not the African side, of the world; isn't that what America is all about?

I remember the first year I was in Washington for an inauguration -- January 1952 -- with President Eisenhower and Nixon. My roommate, from Chisholm, Minn., and I, from Canton, Ill., to be here for that year's momentous occasion, wanted to be downtown among the crowds.

Of course, what would we be able to see, through the wall of people that would be surrounding us? At not quite 5-feet tall, I was not going to see anything through the wall of people around me. For my roommate, it was another thing -- she was 5-feet 10-inches in her stocking feet! But, we went and I have to this day the mirrored contraption that allowed me to see pieces of the parade coming my way.

Granted, there were not the numbers that were there this time. But we did remember being there for years to come! (Unfortunately, this time, I was so sick, that I did not check out the activities even on TV -- so I have that to look forward to, a pictorial review.)

I tried to drop in on the Bain Center Jan. 21, to leave some Avon catalogues, and was shocked to see yellow tape across the front door with a sign of "closed until further notice."

It seems they had some bad luck and were dealing with broken water pipes. Call 410-313-7213 before you drop by, to make sure it's open.

Having been restricted to my home, really my bed, reminds me that our new center building only goes back a short time, but the hand-made quilt that hangs on the wall of the Great Room is reminiscent of the beginning of the bonding of the seniors in the area in 1987.

Although there are others who were in the area, Lady Velva, our Senior Council president, and Carla Buehler, the director, represent our earliest members.

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