The Morning After Election Day

Disclaimer: I had no personal stake in the outcome of Tuesday's elections here in Norwich. I wasn’t running for anything, or from anything (with my knees, always welcome news) and I had no bets riding on how the votes turned out.

I know for whom I voted and why (and hope you did the same) but I believe by the dawn's early light of Wednesday, whoever we chose for City Council and Board of Education will have a difficult job, as will almost all of those across this country, newcomer and incumbent, who serve in our millions of communities, townships and cities in a variety of offices. 

Sometimes the passions during election season can blur that perspective, and, speaking for myself, if they have in recent weeks, be it thought, word, or deed, my apologies.

I once read (and remember) someone telling me, ‘We campaign in poetry but must govern in prose.’ I’d like to think that means while we use words to excite and perhaps incite supporters during a campaign for office, once the morning after Election Day arrives, we must attempt to govern by summoning the best from within ourselves and hoping for the same from the other side of the aisle.

Offering me a bigger perspective on this idea earlier this week though I suspect that was not necessarily their intention were lawn signs on neighboring properties I passed on New London Turnpike, though there were similar groupings of signs elsewhere across Norwich, supporting candidates of both parties for a variety of offices..

I've driven past these houses for years with little to no thought and wouldn’t be surprised to learn in all those years, the very same people have been living there, leading whatever lives they lead, together with their families. 

I can imagine the members of those households sharing flag football games in the fall that spill across each of their yards, enjoying summer barbecues and winter snowball fights, and going trick or treating together or organizing whiffle ball tournaments that begin on lazy summer afternoons shortly after mid-day and don’t conclude until the last of the light has faded from the sky in the evening.

What I saw in these houses were neighbors who had different views on who was best to assume leadership positions in the city each of them calls home. And not just here but all  across this country, today in the aftermath of the ballots cast before polls closed yesterday evening, discussions and conversations on that topic will continue even as each of those neighbors starts their day by opening their front door this morning to retrieve the newspaper, for one of them, their candidate for office will have been less than successful.

And perhaps later in the morning or maybe tonight after putting the car in the garage and walking the dog, they will go out to where those lawn signs are, pull them out by the stakes, put the metal frame holder in the garage for another day, and fold the cardboard sign in half and place it in the recycling box.

And their world, and ours as well, will continue, as shall we. Because the sun also rises; learning to see it is both a skill and an art.

-bill kenny