No, it didn’t snow. I’m talking about what it’s like to wake up the day after an election, the Wednesday after a blowout Bears loss, as a regular guy in the far West suburbs of Chicago. In summary, it’s not great. Mental health takes a bit of a hit when the rest of the country, on the xenophobic promise of keeping the criminals from crossing the border (Mexican border, mind you, not Canadian, where the terrorists responsible for 9-11 entered the country), vote a treasonous felon into a second term. And that’s only one of the mind-bending facets of this election.

A strong undercurrent is that no matter how many celebrities may endorse a qualified female candidate, the majority of the country (and this includes both political parties) are not ready for a woman president. I was shocked that Obama got through, but after Hillary and now with Kamala, the writing on the wall is pretty clear.

That said, this didn’t even look like a contest, which is something I am used to as a Bears fan (even when they win it’s not always convincing) but I don’t like the feeling. In fact, I’m getting pretty tired of it. However, like with the Bears, there are intricacies and details involved that make it hard to pinpoint a single issue. The viability of a female candidate probably doesn’t answer all of the questions, but then how does the DNC learn and adjust from these failures? SNL offered some criticism. (Hell, I thought it was Tim Walz.)

This race is/was a clarifier of the identity of the United States. This is what we the people have chosen as our path. Generally, I blame unfettered capitalism (coupled with a small handful of unchecked egos) and the modern version of the printing press for fueling this state of the union. With a decent lock or foothold in all three branches of government (intended to keep each other in check), I’m pretty concerned about the future of democracy. Hell, maybe democracy is naive.

On the other hand, I appreciate the representation I have in Illinois – not just because of the party alignment, but because of what they continue to try to do, which is to make Illinois (and the country by extension) a better place to live. Their actions tell me that they don’t want to go back, but rather look forward (with lessons from the past in mind) to improve on democracy, not to side step it or subvert it for temporary financial gains. In my case, that includes representatives at different level from both parties.

So, what now? I can only control what I can control. I have not been good about writing, making music, or any creative endeavors for a while. I can fix that. I have also let my fitness get away from me. I can work on that. There are 5—10 decent-sized projects on my back burner. I can start attacking those. That’s it. Otherwise, business as usual.

Oh, and maybe I start focusing on the Lions. I always liked David Montgomery…