After the long and tumultuous build-up, when Gov. Linda Lingle and President Obama finally met for the first time, it was a moment of grace.

Of course you've seen the photo, right? There is Lingle in a gubernatorial-looking silk suit with a bright smile and a happy shaka. There is the president standing next to her like maybe they were old friends from way back, smiling like he's glad to see her and flashing his own homegrown shaka. They look like buddies. They're not just showing teeth, they're smiling with their eyes. Beaming, even. The moment was transcendent.

The meeting, however, was brief. It was a week ago, at the Sunday-evening dinner at the White House for the National Governors' Association. This was the event before the business portion of the conference. The next day, the governors met with the president's Cabinet to talk about the federal stimulus plan.

But that night, President Obama and Gov. Lingle were chatting informally after the formal dinner when Gov. Felix Camacho of Guam came up with his camera and did the, "Hey, let's get a picture together!" thing you do at your class reunion trip to Vegas. His teenage daughter took the camera back with her to Guam the next day, so Lingle's Honolulu office had to wait until Tuesday to get the photo sent over.

When it did arrive, Lingle's press officer Russell Pang sent it out to the media. He said earlier this week that the governor's office would frame a copy of the photo so Lingle could have it when she got back.

It's a really great picture, the kind that makes you smile in spite of yourself. It is historic and irreverent in the best ways. The understated shakas, held low and close in classic shaka form, put the whole image over the top. They don't agree, but they can double shaka together. That's what America is about, yeah? Just when it seemed the shaka was overused, commercialized and had lost its impact, there it was in all the glory of its full meaning:

Eh howzit. We cool? Cool. Right on.

Pang says Lingle shaka-ed first, a spontaneous shaka, and Obama followed. "It was natural, especially for people from Hawai'i," Pang said.

It is a sweet and hopeful thing that even after the rough and tumble of a heated campaign, two politicians from opposing teams can stand shoulder to shoulder, grin like they mean it and shaka for all the folks back home. Makes you think that all sorts of things are possible. Sure, it's just a picture, but still. Eh, right on, you guys.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.