…listen
…about the music

Yes, we did.

After eight painful and shameful years living in a nation held hostage by greed and lies, a lot of us experienced one gigantic, collective exhale last night. We watched as the U.S. pendulum began a swing back toward sanity, in an historic election many of us had been afraid to believe wouldn’t be stolen in its final hours.

I was in tears at several moments during the evening. First, when CNN declared that Barack Obama was President Elect. Capital letters emblazoned across the TV screen were the indication to my psyche that yes, this was real. I wept. And I wept again when I saw the stunningly huge, entranced crowd standing in Chicago, as I listened intently to this inspiring man’s moving speech.

Mr. Obama will probably not be able to solve all the problems this nation faces, but I am extremely grateful that he’s willing to sacrifice so much to try. I have no doubt that there will be a significant improvement not only in the direction of the U.S. government, but in the morale of its citizens who have been promised a President who will actually listen to them. And I can only guess that we’ve suddenly gained a few brownie points overseas, as the world watches us attempt to redeem ourselves.

The cargo containers pictured above struck me as an abstract flag, woven of commerce and transportation and draped across the Seattle shoreline. I took it coming back from a trip last month, and it seems appropriate today.

As I type this to you at 3:30 Wednesday morning, what began as the soothing sound of moderate rain has quickly ramped up to quite a riot of sonic pounding on my metal roof. Curious, I opened the door in my studio and was astonished to witness a remarkable hail storm of ice pellets the size of frozen peas. Millions of them, pouring down, bouncing, landing, joyously, insistently, looking as though someone made a middle of the night gravel delivery atop the grass. It’s not particularly cold; just 42 degrees. Barefoot, I stepped outside and delighted in standing there with the hail pouring down on me. Pummeling me, in fact. A cheap thrill. I even wondered if my car might get dented. I cupped my hands and collected these rounded icy gems, rolling them over my fingers. Wonderful. Now back at my desk, miniature snowballs slowly melt on my hair.

Even the atmosphere is celebrating the outcome of the election. Hail to the new chief! Hail to the change in America!

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