Waking up after Election Day

Wow. Today is an amazing day.

Although this is not a political blog, I feel compelled to post the day after our nation's most historic presidential campaign. Today we are all part of a changed American landscape. We have all just seen our country vote for its first African-American president. I'm not sure how anyone, no matter what party you support or what you believe in, would be able to sit back and not feel how huge this is.

I watched the coverage until late last night. I am not afraid to admit that when Katie Couric looked at me through the television screen to say that it was official - - Barack Obama would be our next president -- I felt a huge wave of emotion. I was not really prepared for that. But the reality of how huge this moment was sunk in and sunk in fast. A tear may have been shed.

Ok, so there was more than one tear. But photographers don't cry.

Well, this one does. This one knew she was watching a huge moment for her country and even for the world unfold in front of her eyes. So, ya, big deal. This photographer shed a few tears.

Almost twenty years ago my father was able to show me where he was when he heard that Kennedy had been shot. We were on the campus of West Virginia University, getting a tour and thinking about where my future might lead me (we now know it didn't lead me to the fine state of West Virginia). He pointed to a red car parked on a hill, and filled with patriotic pride and sadness as he was able to tell me that's where he was standing when another student told him the news. "No one ever forgets where they were when they heard about Kennedy ," he told me. At the time I didn't really get it, politics weren't exactly my thing. But now, after sitting on the red couch that was once his and watching history happen, I wish he had lived long enough to share this moment with so many of us. I wonder what he would have to say and how he would want to remember it. I will remember that I sat in a house once occupied by him, and felt the world shift, shedding tears and sharing smiles with people in all corners of the globe.

And now, it's the day after and I have decided I am tired of hearing 3 certain words : Joe the Plumber. I could come up with some new people for us to look up to/watch. How about Judy the Photographer? Or maybe Doug the Teacher, Amy the Doctor, Andy the Lawyer/Musician... And this guy - Scott the Weekend Warrior/artist/accountant/husband/son/brother/uncle/friend/neighbor. We could talk about him for awhile, even though he might not like the attention. Or we could just look at this photo of him polishing his El Camino.

I think I just gave myself my next project! Portraits of these Average Joes in my life that are really anything but average. I have had this in the back of my mind for a while, but now it's moving quickly to the front. Better get to work!

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