well, that's a damned relief

 Joe Biden has won the election, thank all available gods.

There's still so much work to do, starting with two runoff Senate races in Georgia that will decide control of that body. We also have to undo all the damage Trump has done, not just to our systems of democracy, but to people who have suffered immeasurably under his administration. The kids who are still separated from their parents. The grieving families of the COVID-19 dead. The people who have "recovered" but are still suffering lasting symptoms. Those who have lost their jobs, their homes, their security, their future prospects. 

And we have to work to undo the systemic racism that undergirds our political process. We have to abolish or outsmart the Electoral College, and expand the franchise so more Americans vote in every election, and their voices count equally. We have to fund systems of opportunity for marginalized people. There's so much to do that there's no way it will get done in a single term. But progress can happen. 

And we'll do it all in the face of the racist and sexist attacks against our vice president-elect, Senator Kamala Harris. She is such an inspiration, and I'm so glad she has broken this glass ceiling. One more to go, in time.

This transition period is terrifying. Trump is basically a trapped animal now, and there's no telling what he will slash and burn on his way out. Meanwhile, coronavirus is rampant across the country. We're seeing more than 100,000 new cases EVERY DAY, even with the minimal testing under this administration. Indiana alone is seeing more than 4,000 new cases every day. Our county has wide community spread. Even right this minute, we're waiting on a couple of test results in our house because Henry is close friends with a kid who is a close contact of another kid who tested positive. I'm believe Henry is fine, but we need to make sure.

At the beginning of this, I was blogging every day to try to make sense of it, so that the boys would remember this wild and unprecedented time. But as the months have dragged by, the problems have gotten so big that it's hard to make them make sense, and even harder to put them in context. Honestly, there IS NO CONTEXT for this. All we can do is what we've been doing since March: stay isolated, and try not to get it or spread it. Hope we can keep ourselves safe long enough for a vaccine that works. Hope our loved ones do the same.

That hope is a little easier today than it was yesterday, now that the Biden/Harris administration is going to be a reality.