The city is almost ready for Inauguration Day. Yesterday I tried to capture the final preparations from a perspective slightly higher than ground level.

On my commute home I took the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes in order to see the Art of Weiwei projection on the exterior of the Newseum. This is only on display from January 17th through the 19th in honor of the inauguration so if you are in town, Saturday is your last chance to see it.

A cold evening with little traffic, I stood with my bike, absorbed the quiet scene displayed on the First Amendment tablet of the Newseum, and contemplated Weiwei’s images and words.

Today (Saturday) Felkerino and I went for an outing that included a lap on Pennsylvania Avenue and a brief stroll across the National Mall.

Signage displayed on various buildings celebrated the upcoming inauguration.

The upcoming festivities combined with warmer temperatures (creeping up on 50) and bright sun brought out the people.

The result was a downtown mishmosh of gleeful tourists, grumpy locals, excited locals, frazzled families, and haggard motorists who were continually being shunted off some of the main streets due to the inauguration road closures.

The ride down Pennsylvania was beautiful, not only weather-wise, but because vehicular access to the street was limited, almost equalizing the number of bicycles to cars on the street for once. And no nasty car U-turns!

Washington, D.C., is a city that loves ceremony.

The bleachers are up.

Port o’potties align the Mall.

Mobile command centers are in position.

The freshly seeded green grass looks pristine and ready to be tromped on.

Can’t wait for Monday.