“With malice toward none” has been one of the most oft repeated phrases from the second inaugural address offered by President Lincoln and the spirit seemed to breeze throughout the 2021 inauguration day.

It was an inauguration familiar and yet, slightly new. Fresh. Light but not without its weightier moments. It was a day of being lockstep with what I remember from previous inaugurations but with little of the former staunchness.

We had music represented by steady talent, all the familiar Marine Band music, a female sworn in as vice-president, colleagues greeting one another with the new pandemic fist-bump, former Presidents and First Ladies and other politicos from previous administrations, pomp and pageantry, and a nod to our founding fathers and mothers that their experiment was, and is solid.

I felt some of the adjustments, such as the post-ceremony Senate luncheon, a modified parade, made it a much more comfortable watch.

For me, it was solid, enjoyable, perfectly designed and executed.

God bless our country… our leaders that we’ve selected… and the spirit of those who’ve paved the road of this experiment whose light is burning brighter, stronger.

And may God bless Sen. Bernie Sanders and his knitten-mittens.