Hail to the Chief Who in Triumph Advances

Honored and bless'd be the evergreen pine.
Long may the tree in his banner that glances,
Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line.

'Hail to the Chief' - Sir Walter Scott
(Lyrics from the original theatrical production of 'The Lady of the Lake' which was the predecessor to what later became the presidential anthem)

We stand at an important junction in the history of our country and our world. Regardless of how one wanted the election to turn out, the simple fact is that there are a great many problems facing us. No one person could ever be expected to have the capacity to fix them. So while many have pinned their hopes on what has happened in the past 24 hours, it needs to be remembered that it is only the beginning. I can only hope that the level of discourse, debate, and participation that have been the lynchpin of these elections will continue on in the months and years ahead.

As I have continued to absorbe the enormity of what we've witnessed, I found myself wandering the streets of downtown Seattle this morning. While I had a reason to be down there, I ended up doing something entirely different. Where only twelve hours before there had been crowds ranging from hundreds to thousands celebrating, there were now people going back to their routines. However there was something different. There was an excitement about what comes next, about the good things we can help accomplish if given the chance. People were spontaneously starting conversations with anyone they thought was their idealistic brethren and spilling their emotions, hopes, and dreams for our country. I almost had to add more time to my parking spot as what I thought was a brief errand turned into a type of bonding between strangers that one rarely sees.

So as I now too go back to the daily grind, I must also, at least briefly, turn my attention back to work, and the people there. The week started very well, with a Sunday meeting that brought full circle the unpleasantries that had plagued the past nine months. Finally I was absolved of everything I was blamed for. Finally they realized that what was done to me was wrong. While there is still a large part of me that wishes I had been able to make my exit immediately as I planned, I take some pleasure in having remained long enough to have received an apology.

However after Sunday I found that things started to get complicated again. Actually I suppose I saw this coming Saturday after some conversations to get me up to speed with what I missed by not leaving the Halloween party (an event to which I will get back to later). But combined with Monday night...yeah folks, I hate to say it, especially for those who already see it as obvious, this isn't going to end well for anyone. How many more people can be pissed at each other? 1.....2.....3......*crunch*....the world may never know.

So back to Halloween. I realize now what it was that was nagging at me. With regard to what I did, the concept of doing something like that completely randomly is foreign to me. Now its pretty well known at this point that my expertise in this area is limited, so that statement may seem odd. Everything I write now seems slightly too grandiose for something so minor, so this is kinda hard. I guess I'll just sum it up like this. The first part was what it was, and that's not what I'm stuck on. In fact I look at that part as simply a better experience than that bizarre night near my birthday two years ago. What utterly blew my mind was thirty seconds later on the other side of the room. Is that really how this works? Eh, no biggie either way. I enjoyed every last bit of that night, even the parts I don't understand.