This morning dawned cool and bright, with only a touch of fog hovering above the grass. The waning moon still in the western sky, I listened to the birds chirping while I had my coffee on the back porch, where I checked (for the millionth time in the last four days) the vote tallies in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada and the subsequent percentage of votes counted.
Fairly certain that nothing would change until tonight or tomorrow, I went about my day. At roughly 11:35 this morning, I saw a post from a friend that simply said “Thank you Jesus.” No explanation. I immediately went to the Wall Street Journal map – and there was the state of Pennsylvania, filled in a solid blue, and a headline to finally exhale to: “Joe Biden Wins Presidency, AP Calls Race.” I did a little dance, I’ll be honest, and immediately began texting friends and posting on my own feed a little “Hallelujah!” for good measure. Nevada and Arizona were called soon after, leaving only Georgia and North Carolina still up in the air. The incumbent, as he is wont to do, declared himself the winner and asserted that he will challenge the results in court. Every lawsuit (except one, I think) that has been brought by the Republican party so far has been thrown out on lack of grounds and evidence. I don’t believe that any new lawsuits will fare any better. The states that were called today were well aware of the scrutiny they were under and followed procedure to the letter.
In New York and Philadelphia, people are celebrating in the streets. I have it on good authority that the party is ON in New York City, the city that knew the Orange Menace the best, and hated him the most. Let’s just hope that everyone is wearing their masks.
It is a gorgeous, unseasonably warm November day and there is such catharsis. Such a collective and emotional sigh of relief, a release of all the trepidation. And in my beautiful little town, the Trump supporter across the street took down his banners (for all I know, he is protesting the fictional fraud somewhere) and another neighbor drove down my little Main Street, honking their horn and hollering in celebration.
There is, finally, joy.
We can be joyful again – and on January 20, 2021, at 12:01 pm, there will be joy a-plenty as we swear in our 46th president and our history-making vice president.
There is so much to be done – a pandemic to control, rampant unemployment to address, racial discord to heal and so many dastardly deeds to undo.
Today, though, there is hope. It is a very good day.
☮💙