Weird

It was a bit strange last night . . . weird, in fact (I thought it was always supposed to be "'i' before 'e' except after 'c'?"). Last night when Kooper and I went for our midnight walk I was out in sandals strolling around the block. I didn't need to but I put a light jacket on. More because it was November 7 than anything else. I mean in November you should at least be wearing a jacket. But it was nearly 60 and almost balmy.

It was quiet, too. No planes take off from Reagan National at that time of night. Few cars zip down or up the George Washington Parkway. No leaf blowers. Just the rare bus still on its late night run. The random driver coming home from a night out. The other person now and then oddly out in their sandals and jacket walking their dog, too.

It's the same in the mornings when I walk the dog. Quiet. Few cars and even fewer people. The only time I ever noticed a change in that quiet pattern was last Tuesday morning. That morning it dawned on me gradually that Tuesday was going to be a special day when, as Kooper and I were respectively sniffing and stumbling our way through the neighborhood, others - a lot of "others" in fact - were out too. Walking. No dogs. Just walking. And no matter where we were in the neighborhood (Kooper and I) the people were all walking slowly and resolutely toward the same general spot - the southwest corner of Second and Powhatan Streets. The Alexandria Fire Station. One of two voting locations in the City of Alexandria. Like zombies almost but most definitely alive.

Since Tuesday night there has been an almost palpable aliveness in the country as well. At least the parts that I can see.

Weird.