Saturday: It’s Halloween. As usual, we need groceries. I get into my car and head down to Trader Joe’s… la la la… right into a Trump Truck Train. There are flags. With guns. Long beards. Instead of our beautiful backroad, I’ve driven into the parking lot of a Monster Truck Rally. I feel physically ill. When I get home, I donate more money.
Monday: It’s a quiet work day of deep thought and strategic reflection. Haven’t had a Zoom-free day in months… almost eight to be exact.
Tuesday: A blissful half day planned. Incredibly grateful to have the day off to vote. I’ve already turned in my mail-in ballot and didn’t get selected to work the polls so, wellness it is. Workout. Socially-distanced coffee with a friend. A service at the spa. Doing my best to spend my money locally with our distressed small business customers.
We have soccer that evening. Six-year-old Xavi seems close to tears during most of the game. Tears seem close to the surface for most of us.
We watch the news. Nate notices so many things about the maps, the percentages, the numbers. His engagement is heartening. He falls asleep on the couch.
I toss and turn all night. Tortured by images of maps and states. Red and blue. Percentages. Counties. Stripes. Nebraska.
Wednesday: We wake-up. I’m so tired. More of the same. I snap at the boys. I knew it was going to take days, possibly longer– they’d prepared us for it. No one can concentrate. The workday drags. People in the know are hopeful. I’m nauseously optimistic.
Thursday: It’s a balmy evening at the expansive college turf fields. Over the peaks, the sunset is stunning. We run. We play. We soak up the only glimpse we have of our pre-pandemic life.
Friday: We’re still tired. We refresh our phones for answers. Nothing. For lunch I eat leftover meatloaf with maple syrup ketchup sauce. It’s a homey tribute to one of my most favorite states– Pennsylvania.
Saturday: I have a morning fitness class. Of course, during the fifteen minutes I’m in the car, I miss it. It’s done. The relief and hope are overwhelming. The end to four years of exhausting chaos.
I can’t wait to sleep soundly tonight.