Election day...

I have my “I Voted” sticker, I studied all the election informtion with which I was bombarded, got through it, and was impressed with the new system here in California, which I feared I’d find very intimidating. But it was easy to process, really well-done I thought. I can’t help having the thought that anything this “high tech” might be vulnerable to hacking. But let’s not go there yet…

But the second most important event of the day for me was hearing the beautiful, intelligent, articulate and gracious speech that Pete Buttigieg gave, priot to the start of Joe Biden’s rally in Texas this evening. I have been so impressed with this gentleman…I was really saddened when the announcement came that he was withdrawing from the Democratic primaries. But then, I heard the news that he had endorsed Joe Biden, as had Amy Klobuchar…

It feels like the Democrats…I am a Democrat, admittedly, and I can speak freely here without danger of offending anyone (because after all, It’s my “blog”…) the Democrats have begun to rally, to pull together. And I feel like the two smartest most reasonable and fair-minded ones, Pete and Amy, stepped up first. Forgive me, my Bernie friends…but I am so tired of listening to him shout and wave his fists. I don’t believe he has the ability to pull off ANY of his plans, and I’m not sure I agree with all of them. He has not always voted for the right things, and he hasn’t really accomplished that much, even as a congressman.

And then, following Pete’s speech, Joe Biden’s was SO gracious, so loving… it inspired hope in me, AND it affirmed for me the wisdom of my support of Joe Biden. I know he’s old. I know he’s stumbled a time or two at the debates. However, he was the only one on the stage that didn’t interrupt people, the only one who kindly stopped talking when his time was up. There’s something about the quality of grace that I am so drawn to. And there has been an overwhelming lack of it in the White House since 2016, I believe Joe is a good person, I believe he’s supported the things that are important right now - the Paris Climate Accord, the push-back to the NRA re gun control…he spoke in the speech today of his son Beau, and how much Pete reminded him of Beau…the brave, moral, courageous son. I believe in Joe’s basic decency, in his knowledge of international affairs, and I believe too that his compassionate nature will cause him to do the right things for example, to try to solve the homeless problem. It is the most heart-breaking thing on the planet to me right now, not just here in my own neighborhood but all around the world…the refugee children fleeing their homelands, who are literally freezing to death in Syria without warm clothing, without homes, without shelter. I can’t expect Joe to solve all that but hopefully we could at least do something about our fellow Americans here at home.

When did a world that is so full of people of various faiths, who claim to be religious, to claim to love their Lord… when did they all lose track of the fact that we are all God’s children?

I am blessed. I can sit here at my desk, can look out into a garden filled with butterflies, with birds flittering about, with an occasional rabbit peeking out from under the bushes…it is warm, it is safe, there is food in my refrigerator, my little dog is asleep on the couch nearby, I have a home. I can’t imagine how it would feel, not to have a home.