Honolulu

Alan Chin rang me up tonight from Pennsylvania where he is half-on and half-off the campaign trail.

The two of us were marveling over Friday’s images of Obama in Honolulu, appreciating how rare and beautiful they were.  Alan was saying that Obama’s grandmother’s illness — and the media’s discretion around it — created the rarest (albeit, one day) space for him to reflect and be left primarily alone.

How poignant and profoundly unusual for Obama (or any presidential candidate) to have this moment-in-time, not just to spend with his grandmother, but to also wander his childhood neighborhood just 11 days before the national election.  As Alan said, it’s real life, and the most humble moment of the whole campaign.

(images: Obama walks around his old neighborhood after visiting his ailing grandmother in Honolulu, Hawaii October 24, 2008.  1.) Justin Sullivan/Getty  2. Hugh Gentry/Reuters. 3 & 4. Alex Brandon/AP)