Today, Joe Biden from Delaware (Scranton) became President of the United States Joseph R. Biden, the forty-sixth man to hold the office in the nearly two hundred and fifty year history of America.

It has been a strange day in our house.  Yesterday evening, we found out our neighbors have both tested positive for COVID with no clear idea how or when they were exposed.  Making it even more troubling/puzzling is that one of them had already begun the vaccine process.

Anyway, now, nearly twenty-four hours after receiving the news, I feel less anxious and scared; instead I feel resolute, determined and stoic.  We decided to self-quarantine (JIC) which has been something of a challenge and strangely exhausting.  My question for the universe … who exactly is following COVID protocol and guidelines?

I ask because both my doctors offices were unsettling blasé about the news, making rescheduling challenging and frustrating.  (Not to mention strangely shaming me for my hyphenated last name?! …) Our families reacted with various levels of concern and care, even stating at one point that we were probably fine.  (Thank you Doctor Family Member).

It isn’t that I wonder if we’ve been exposed or are sick — both are possibilities.   What weighs on my mind is the fact that our neighbors have no idea how they came to get it.  And they are diligent about isolating and staying home; they have been since early last year.  So … that’s … worrying.

Anyway, between phone battles with schedulers, I sat down and watched the first woman elected to high office sworn in as the Vice President of the country.  I cried.  Even if I hadn’t wanted to I would have because it was profoundly moving.  I wished my mother was there to see it, but I also knew that she was and she was proud.  Funnily, Judge Sotomayor mispronounced Kamala and I felt a surge of understanding and recognition as Ms. Harris didn’t get phased at all, but rather took her oath of office with poise and aplomb.

We are in dark days as a country.  Today marks a change in leadership but I can’t say for certain if it marks a change in the momentum of the divide growing larger and louder among our citizens.  All I can have is hope in the ideals of America.

It was a strange day today.  I can’t focus my mind, I drifted through the day.  I am tired and simultaneously wired.

Strange day.

Xox, g