A time to drink in the icy air and say yes, I was here.
Updated on 20 January 2009
They were words that moved the world.
Barack Obama's inaugural address was a masterpiece of rhetoric - which aimed for a purpose far higher than the skies above the watching crowds.
His delivery was calm but his oratory no less powerful as he called on all Americans to take on the challenges ahead - to remember the old values of virtue, of honesty, of hard work and above all, responsibility to their nation and to each other.
Watch Barack Obama's speech in full
At times the tone was stark, as if to reflect the enormity of the task ahead.
But he urged those hanging on his every word - not to forget the power of their ambition.
"What free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage."
As for the economic turmoil, a warning to those who have grown rich on the proceeds of others' misery.
"A nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."
But a promise too, of a nation determined to renew its image in the world, to reach out to its enemies, and those whose respect and trust it has forfeited.
"We are ready to lead, once more," he declared.
By the time of his peroration the crowd was roaring its approval - barely anyone was not moved to tears.
The long hours in the cold, the security nightmare, for now forgotten amid a sea of waving flags and a common sense of hope.
Then, a brief luncheon in the Capitol and another nod to history with a deliberate echo of Abraham Lincoln's meal.
More ceremonials followed as President Obama makes his way to his new home in the White House at the head of a procession 150,000 strong.
A unique moment.
A time to drink in the icy air and say yes, I was here.
