My Beautiful America

I'm a little blue dot in a big red state. The results of this week's election -- both local and national -- were pretty tough on me. I was thinking about that today as I took my morning walk under a stormy sky.

My town is beautiful. The streets are safe. I have good neighbors. So what if we have different ways of looking at the direction our country is going? This country is resilient. We'll cooperate with one another. We'll figure out how to create a space where our children can grow and thrive. We'll have some growing pains along the way. It's been this way since the Revolution.

As  I turned the corner, the flag the Baptist minister put up in his front yard whipped violently in the wind. What a great metaphor for us right now. Proud Americans. Firmly planted in the ground. Surrounded by Autumn's beauty, changing into Winter. Our country is experiencing a seasonal shift, too. We may all feel like we've been batted around recently, but our beauty and strength are still evident. We'll find our way home.