The anticlimax

As I look at the calendar, it has been only a week since the ballots were counted and the decision made, though, somehow, it feels as if it has been months.

A person prints a report just after 8PM, November 4, steps forward and reads two numbers, and that is it, the end.  I stood there for a moment in the Auditor's office, trying to process what I had just heard.  The end of six months of effort and commitment took only a few seconds, now on with the rest of my life.

I knew in my head that there was a possibility that I might lose the election.  I was sure that I was prepared for whatever the outcome might be, that I would be happy that the stress and long hours of the campaign, the longest job interview of my life, would be over.

Sometime the next day, I found that I wasn't as prepared as I had thought.  When you pour your heart and soul into something, a commitment to make a difference, to serve your community, your spirit may not understand the pragmatic aspects of an election.

While my opponent was out door-belling and holding fundraiser events, counting your votes, I was doing the research, learning the laws and studying the issues facing our PUD and our community.  I am now, slowly, clearing out the material I had gathered on PUD operations, eight three-ring binders and several file folders full of research.  I feel a bit guilty about how much paper I has used during six months of prep, but I will make sure that all the paper goes to recycling, still trying to do my part.
 
It is cool but he sun is shining, enjoy this day, and every day, as a gift.
Tony