A mere twenty four hours ago I lived in a different world. Ever the pessimist, I had been denying any of the positivity being expressed on the left. Having been bitterly disappointed in most recent elections, I was simply not interested in getting my hopes up only to have them dashed by the reality I had become used to. I am, by nature a rather hopeful sort, but recent years have slapped me down more times than I care to acknowledge, and I was damned if I would set myself up for yet another bitter disappointment. The Beloved Spouse and I had voted on the first day of early voting, almost as soon as the polls opened. Things were busy, the parking lot fairly crowded, and there were lines. The process (despite the fact that we had to fill in little bubbles with a special pen, rather than poke boxes on a screen with a cotton swab, which had been the case for the last two elections) took little time, and we were soon on our way to pick up groceries on the way home. By late that evening, reports of record turnouts were popping up on the news. At least folks were treating these midterm elections seriously: more seriously, it turns out, than they had treated early voting for the last general election.
So, by the time local polls closed, I decided to retire upstairs to read, and my somewhat more sanguine spouse made plans to check in on results between his evening dose of tennis matches. But I made the mistake a bit later of checking my phone to see what was up, and to my surprise, things had started looking encouraging. My daughter started texting me at 7:31 that a significant Senate seat had turned blue, and my resolve dissolved. I went back downstairs to watch Rachel Maddow and her crew grow giddier by the moment as the world began to change.
After Ann Richards lost to Dubya in 1994, I made a bumper sticker with a yellow rose on it that read "I Miss Ann Richards." It didn't last for long (I didn't have a proper bumper-sticker making printer), but I had planned to make a better one this time.
But this time I don't have to.
A big blue tsunami took care of most of the significant races in Texas, and in the country as a whole, and I'm looking forward to what can happen when kind, smart, honest, concerned, thoughtful people get a chance to repair the damage that has occurred under the current regime.
Pacem in terra, People. May the Force be with us all.
Image notes: A sunrise shot I took a few days ago while on one of Alan's freedom walks. It seemed wonderfully appropriate.
