Amen. We are all lucky to be living in this momentous time. I am again proud to be an American!

I was born and raised in California, and had little exposure to racism during my life. I was raised by a wonderful woman who was a Democrat in every way. But in 1967, my experiences changed. I joined the Women’s Army Corps and flew to Ft. McClellan, Alabama. When I was finally granted leave, and could leave the base after Basic Training, I went into town and was shocked to find (still) whites only bathrooms, and drinking fountains, and so many other forms of racial discrimination practiced. 

In my relatively short  life, I have been privileged to watch a remarkable change come upon this nation. We still have a long way to go. California, a “blue” or liberal state, enacted discrimination and hate, with the passage of Proposition 8. At least my county voted it down. I know how it happened. Some voters were confused. In voting “Yes” on Prop 8, they thought they were insuring gays the right to wed, when just the opposite was true. I spoke with one who did that.

Yes, change is a’comin’ as Dylan has sang, but more change is needed. I want to see tolerance, love, and hope as the norm, and bigotry, hatred, and fear as the abherration it truly is. I want to see our views expand so that we are all world citizens, not just citizens of our small little place in it. I want to see us transform ourselves into the incredible beings of which we are capable. 

Rainfall totals: Storm, .6; Season, 3.6

Today will be one historical day for this nation. With the whole world watching, I am confident we will do the right thing, and our next President will be Barak Obama. 

I’ll be taking the day off from blogging so that I can catch up on work, in between watching exit polls and the electoral votes mounting up for the candidates. The highest voter turn-out in American political history is expected today. That, in itself, is a reason to celebrate. The vast majority of us are excited about the change that is coming. Others are afraid. Change always brings fear, it seems. To me, it means this nation has come to its collective senses, after 8 long years of political hell.

Gather around your favorite news source, or gather together in local pubs and hang-outs, and enjoy this defining moment in our national history.

From the Associated Press:

Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on.

Democrat Obama defeated Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch, where a loud whoop accompanied the announcement in Tuesday’s first minutes. The town of Hart’s Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul. Independent Ralph Nader was on both towns’ ballots but got no votes.

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t surprised,” said Obama supporter Tanner Nelson Tillotson, whose name was drawn from a bowl to make him Dixville Notch’s first voter.

With 115 residents between them, Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location get every eligible voter to the polls beginning at midnight on Election Day. Between them, the towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948.

Being first means something to residents of the Granite State, home of the nation’s earliest presidential primary and the central focus — however briefly — of the vote-watching nation’s attention every four years.

Town Clerk Rick Erwin said Dixville Notch is proud of its tradition, but added, “The most important thing is that we exemplify a 100 percent vote.”

If only the rest of the nation could get 100% voter turn out. Perhaps we need to do as Australian does, and make it a crime not to vote!