Guess What?

 I left my wife and her great big speaker on the front porch, blaring Fanfare For The Common Man. She was determined to wake the neighborhood to the news that Pennsylvania had finished their count and pushed Joe Biden over the top in Electoral Votes. She was going to have a dance party on our lawn in celebration.

I was going for a run.

All that pent up energy that had been stuffed way down deep since Election Day was now free to be released. There was an extra zip in my step as I made my way up the street. At the top of the hill, in front of the 7-11, a pair women were standing outside their car. One of them was dancing. Flossing to be precise. As I approached, I could see their eyes were full of smiles. "At last!" I said and gave them a big double thumbs up. They laughed and echoed my sentiment. 

I kept running. 

I made a point after that of mentioning to each and every person I met along my six mile route, "Hey, we've got a new president!" Reactions varied.

Some nodded. Maybe they were smiling behind their masks. A woman carrying her morning coffee gave me a tip of her cup. I got a few confused stares. A couple gentlemen gave me their thumbs up and agreed. Another woman gong the opposite direction in as big a rush as me responded, "Isn't it great?" A rhetorical question to be sure.

I kept running.

A few cars raced down the street, honking their horns. There was something in the air. As I passed a cafe with a half dozen patrons seated outside, I chanted, "Biden! Biden! Biden!" which got me mostly blank stares. I suppose I expected the whole block to erupt in some massive display of unity, but maybe the time for big rallies and group cheering has passed. Maybe it's time to put the country back together.

I kept running.

When I rounded the corner and came up my driveway, my wife's party had stilled. She was busy with social media and catching up on her own reflections. I asked her if she had one more dance in her. I selected Etta James' At Last from her playlist, and I held her close as we danced across the front lawn. We have a new president. At last.