We did it.

X and J and Kit and I went down to Grand Army Plaza and joined the party there. We cheered and danced and waved our queer pride flags and Kit's glittery rainbow pinwheel and had a very good time. We came home and were very tired. I was the only one who stayed up for the speeches, and I'm glad I did but now I'm absolutely wiped—and an hour late for bedtime again. I think everyone's feeling that tiredness. Even our neighbors up the block, who will take any excuse for a party and were ebullient at the news, called it quits by 11. But worth it, all worth it, what a good way to be worn out instead of the usual exhaustion of pushing back despair.

X and I separately and spontaneously put all our political pins back on. I know New York is the same place it was a week ago, with the same people in it, but it still feels safer now. And it certainly felt good to pile into the town square and be surrounded by people who felt the same.


J with glittery pinwheel, X with trans flag, me with bi flag, Kit with rainbow flag and rainbow mask.
(Subject line is from Dream Theater's "Take the Time", which helpfully popped up on shuffle today. Thanks, psychic randomizer.)