My friends and I foregathered at Anne's house and fortified by wine, crackers, cheese, watched the returns from 6 p.m. on.

The California polls closed at 8:00 p.m. and at 8:01 p.m. the race was called for Barack Obama. There were tears and cheers but no jeers; this long campaign has taken its toll on all of us. I am grateful that reason and justice prevailed.

We watched McCain's gracious concession speech. We watched Obama, tired and grim, give his speech. Only in the last couple of minutes did we see and hear the soaring rhetoric, the promise for which we elected him.

The pressure and the grief he feels now must be incredible. I hope he gets some time now to pay his respects to his grandmother and some further time to reflect and renew himself. He certainly has earned it.

Some California propositions went as we hoped; some did not. More and more I am wary of government by proposition. (My friends left last night wondering what their legal status is now. Hate and bigotry are alive and well and living in California.)

May the Universe keep him safe, and guide him (and all of us) to wisdom.