Nov 18 Day 7: the next day

Today's dilemma: I really, really do not like discussing politics-- not online, and not in person. But on the other hand, what else are we going to talk about the day after an election? I thought about pulling out some crazy, silly idea that would give the impression that what happened in the midterm elections was unimportant to me. But it is important to me, so I'm not doing that. Instead I'm going back to some writing advice I heard years ago in a writing seminar: when you get stuck, go small. Forget the big picture and go back to the details, the mundane, the everyday.

So here you go: it did finally snow yesterday. I'm writing this just before midnight on Tuesday, and there is about half an inch of very wet snow on the deck right now, with more on the way. We skyped with our kids for about half an hour tonight, but it was too early to talk about election results so we talked about MadMax's upcoming tests and Mel chimed in with advice for studying for exams, and we talked about plans for Thanksgiving. Sadie, our black lab, sometimes perks up when she hears the kids' voices, but tonight she slept through it. I'm learning a new song on the bells that is my first one where my hands are doing two different things, and it's hard.

And one more, ever so slightly political thought: the community choir I sing in rehearses on Monday night. There are about 80 of us, and although I've never talked politics there, I suspect that we're probably pretty evenly divided between conservatives and liberals. And you know what? The songs for our Christmas concert are starting to come together, and when all 80 of us are singing together on a crescendo, it is glorious. No one knows how we voted.

That's a pretty damn overly obvious metaphor, but I'm using it anyway.