Fragile

I love my country
By which I mean
I am indebted joyfully
To all the people throughout its history
Who have fought the government to make right
Where so many cunning sons and daughters
Our foremothers and forefathers
Came singing through slaughter
Came through hell and high water
So that we could stand here
And behold breathlessly the sight
How a raging river of tears
Cut a grand canyon of light
--Ani

I was reading the paper on the way to work this morning and when I got to the last page of the Local section, I was dumbfounded. There, posted just as it would be any other day, was the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Right there, the prediction that Wednesday would have "Some sun, a chance of showers. High 53, Low 40."

As if the world will be the same place after Tuesday, November 2 that it was before. As if the sun will rise and set, fronts will move through and sun breaks will occur. As if the world will just continue to turn regardless of the outcome of the election.

Now, unlike those folks who will go to polls and pull the lever for Voldemort Bush, I am a proud member of the reality-based community. I know, really I do, not only that Iraq had no WMD and wasn't behind 9/11, but also that the world won't end... well, not right away at least... after Tuesday. Heck, the election itself might not even be over on Wednesday morning. But for me, anything past tomorrow is a fog of grey, not unlike the morning weather in my fair city on any given day. It's looking over the edge into the abyss, not knowing whether I'll see Atlantis or Jaws.

I feel breakable today. It won't take much to push me over the edge into weeping, or laughing hysterically. I had intended to take a break from election coverage and polling, yet I find myself hitting reload on the news sites, seeking out discussions with like-minded individuals hoping, as did Mt. St. Helens, to rumble a lot and let off steam to avoid the big explosion.

I'm pathologically, perhaps, optimistic about Kerry's chances... I have to be. We've done what we can to educate and motivate our fellow Americans. Tomorrow, like many, I'll volunteer to make calls, drive people to the polls, knock on doors... whatever it takes to GOTV. But today, trying to get some work done while I obsess on this country's future, I will continue to visualize winning. Join me. And tomorrow we VOTE. And then we wait.