G-L-O-R-I-A

Yesterday my friend Michelle and I went to hear Gloria Steinem speak at the Borders in Longmont. At 74 the longtime political activist looked more fit, exuded more spunk, and had more beautiful hands, than anyone in the SRO audience.

Steinem is in Colorado not exactly stumping for Barack Obama, but more so she and her entourage can educate Colorado locals about the plethora of ballot initiatives.

By the time she showed up in Longmont, however, the extensive ballot had already been pondered by her listeners; when she asked for a show of hands of those who had voted early, close to 100 percent of less-than-perfectly manicured right hands fluttered in the air.

This two-year campaign season has seemed like a too-long engagement. You keep on thinking once your wedding day arrives the waiting will finally end, and you'll live happily ever after. But as you calmly accept the gifts as they arrive, thank your friends and family for their good wishes, and shop for your dress and new appliances, you know deep inside the wedding just signals the beginning of a long, and hopefully fruitful, marriage.

I keep on thinking once someone -- anyone -- is elected, the waiting will finally end. The Dow will calm down, the economy will recover, the Iraq war will draw to a close, the foreclosures will stop, and we'll all live happily ever after. I voted last week, and I'm calmly not watching the commercials or the polls. But I know in my gut Election Day won't signal smooth sailing ahead. It will just mean the beginning of a new, and hopefully peaceful and prosperous, administration.