The Day after the Election

I posted several photographs on my Facebook account that I took while standing in the line yesterday. Cindy and I got up a little after five, and were in line about ten minutes till six. It was dark. It was raining.

As day grew lighter, I could see how far the line stretched ahead of me. How it wrapped around in the parking lot in a serpentine fashion. Strangely, it reminded me of the queues and Bush Gardens (45 minutes from this spot). But this is not a ride, it was one of the core actions where we, the people, participate.

My candidate did not win yesterday, and my adopted state turned from red to blue. I am not going to carry sour grapes over this, and I hope to see in Obama what so many of my friends and neighbors have seen in him.

But, what I was reminded of when I woke this morning to hear the news was that picture in my mind of all those people in line yesterday. There was not a coup, there was not a guerilla leader coming from the mountains taking over a government by force of arms.

There was a line.

A line of cold Americans standing under umbrellas in the rain and the dark. Waiting for their turn to vote.