Anne at Magic Gardens
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The Morning After
Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), first female African American elected governor—Deb Haaland (D), first female Native American elected governor—Peggy Flanagan (D) from Minnesota, became the first indigenous woman to win election to the Senate—Amy Acton (D) for refusing to take Vivek’s Ramaswamy’s (R) concession call—Over 100 women will now be serving in Congress at the same time for the very first time in American history.
Choosin’ Texas with a slate wiped blue—Senator-elect Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed (D), first Muslim senator—Senator-elect Adam Hamilton (D), first Democrat elected senator for Kansas in a century—Both Tesla and Trump Media stocks are down this morning as the stock market rockets upwards on Democratic victory.
Oh, dammit just realized I’m not gonna get that $5000—Speaker Mike Johnson (R) will not run for minority leader—Susan Collins (R) is no longer concerned, may she rest in peace—Scott Colom (D) currently holds the narrowest of leads. If elected he would be the first African American senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction. The previous one was a former slave.
In Japan the phrases Blue Wave and Tsunami have entirely different cultural contexts; the Japanese press is referring to last night’s US Election as the “National Scolding”. This morning, I am sipping coffee while reading the news. I feel extremely fine. Where we go from here, I do not know, but now at least we are turned around. I am joyously living in the moment.
Dew Covered Silver Sage
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Blue Waving about While Waiting
Anne’s election day began at a 3:45 AM this morning. She is working all day as an election official/poll worker/election judge. I woke, wished her well and went back to bed. Left home alone, I settled in for a quiet day. It is a rainy day and Anne has the car. So, I am homebound. Pictured below is a tryptic of three George Caleb Bingham paintings that cover Missouri politics, circa the 1850s. Back then Missouri was a slave state, (remember the Missouri Compromise?) and a Democratic stronghold. It remained “blue” through our arrival here in 1980. Then slipped to purple, before becoming deep red. Here is hoping this year is different. We live in the most Democratic congressional district in the state. The Missouri Republicans tried to redistrict for this election but were outfoxed by the Democrats. They were trying to steal the Kansas City seat. There is a proposal on this year’s ballot that would outlaw any future such mid-decade redistricting efforts. We live in District 1, adjacent to us is Ann Wagner’s (R) District 2 seat. If this is a blue tsunami year, then her seat could switch.
Aspen, Quiet Light
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Election Eve
I ran into Mary today. We met in our local grocery store’s parking lot. I was heading into the store and she was coming out. We exchanged pleasantries and updated each other on our recent history and then commenced caveaching about tomorrow’s election. Mary and I share the same political philosophy. We are both nervous about this election. She more so than I. But we are both also optimistic—cautiously so. All signs point to a blue wave and with each passing day, bringing us closer to the election the news only gets better, but hubris is still something to be avoided. We’ve been burnt before. Although, it is an ill wind that blows no good. Maybe the orange monstrosity has moved so far to the right, he is now pushing people to the left. I can hope. If you haven’t voted yet, vote Democrat tomorrow. Mary and I already have.