Reed, Whitehouse take in the spectacle

The famous and powerful appear to be every bit as entranced with the moment as the legions of citizens who are massed below them on the National Mall.

After the members of the Senate were ushered to their seats on the Capitol steps, shortly before 11 a.m., U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., stood over a stone railing and gazed wordlessly down on the crowd for a full minute. Moments later, he and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., shared glances at an image on a Blackberry device.

A few yards away, perhaps 50 feet west of where the new president will address the nation in an hour, Barack Obama's newly sworn-in replacement, Sen. Roland Burris, waved a thumbs up to friends in the VIP section below.

Nearby, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., snapped pictures on a camera and kibitzed with his neighbors, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM.

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, grinned and pointed at a sea of flags that began to wave from the distant Mall as the President's Own, the United States Marine Band struck up 'America the Beautiful. '

The cheers rising from the crowd sounded like wind rustling distant trees.

Except for a scattering of mare's-tails and a thinning haze in the west, the skies by late morning were brilliant, pale blue.

A thin winter sunlight glinted off the bronze robes of the American Indian figure who stands atop the Capitol.

Old Glory fluttered against the backdrop of the dome in a northwesterly breeze.

In the standing-room section of the Capitol Grounds, Victoria Rowell, 49, wore a black top hat with a white card on the brim that proclaimed "Maine."

"I was born in Portland and grew up in the foster care system and I never thought I would see a day like this," said Rowell, an actress, author and adoption and family services worker who now lives in California. "I'm thrilled to be here because I believe that Barack Obama is a strong advocate for keeping families unified" and seeing to the care of children whose families have come apart.