After the rain there is a sparkle in the Topanga air. Water droplets hang like tiny diamonds on the trees. The sun glints and shimmers off the yellow roses, a small pumpkin sits proud in its roundness and even a large black crow appears, not as a harbinger of evil but imperial and elegant. I have just packed up our Halloween decorations, vanishing the spooky ghosts and spiders, the scary little girl with the green face, various witches, and the creepy clown. Although I love them all the house feels much lighter without them hovering about, especially without the clown. On Saturday, November 7, my daughter called from Santa Cruz where she is in college. I heard her crying but, unlike her crushed reaction four years ago to the first presidential election in which she ever voted, these are tears of joy. Our son is dancing with celebration in the streets of Berkeley. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been historically elected President and Vice President of The United States of America, and united is the celebratory word. Now, a 22-year-old journalism student, their aged mother and so many more across this country, can share hope that America will get its heart back. That hope is embodied in the unlikely ticket of an almost 78-year-old white man, who I might add, can still trot onto a stage with verve, and an eloquent woman of color, with a beaming smile. They both possess extensive political experience and service, class, and charisma. In this current, deeply polarized nation, their job of healing the hate and bringing us all together for the good of our divided country in the middle of a pandemic, will not be easy. With the wisdom of his age Biden advised in his acceptance speech, “It’s time to see each other again, to listen to each other again. Let’s not treat our opponents as enemies. They are Americans. They are Americans.� Long ago, when young, I proudly carried the American flag in a Girl Scout ceremony. I believed that flag represented a country of courage, valor, truth, and kindness. Over the years, my young girl’s blind faith in America has, from time to time, been challenged but the last year especially, filled with vitriol, has deflated my fealty. I have felt like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloon with all the air gone out of it. But now, maybe the Beleaguered Husband and I can at least stop wasting our time talking back to a mean clown on the television screen. We are overheard only by the cat or an unfortunate neighbor as we yell, “Why is it always about you? You, you, you!� Or, “But that’s just not true, you’re lying!� Or finally, simply stating while shaking one’s head, “I don’t like you.� I admit to delight in hearing Biden in the debate, after being interrupted over and over, finally say, “Will you just shut-up, man?� Bravo Joe! You spoke for many. We now hear words such as inclusion and truth instead of the ungentlemanly, juvenile name calling and bullying from someone occupying the highest office in the land. At one time, I believed the First Lady was going to use her platform to address the problem of bullying in our culture, but she must have recognized the irony of being married to one. I work with many young children and even when bickering over whose turn it is to ride the red bike, play with the wagon, or go down the slide, they end up sharing and in the simple act of letting the other child have the bike, or take a turn on the swing, they show more humanity and grace than the small-minded man who was called president. So, here, in Biden and Harris, is hope again. Hope in a new day and a new way. Hope in a woman being able to accomplish being elected to the office of Vice President of The United States by the voters of her country and being a beacon to all. Here is a chance to find a way for us to stand together, to be the shining torch of freedom, able to be seen from a great distance as a welcome to all, be they black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, man, woman, LGBTQ, of all faiths, and any of pure heart. May we wave our flag again and may that young patriot, who once was me, and all like her, still find reason to be proud to live in the “Home of the Brave� because it is also the home of the benevolent. After the rain all the flowers came out!