We woke up. We actually woke up and like in the morning when you are in bed that is the easy part - you just open your eyes. I have been driving around for several years with a decal on my car - Perhaps you have seen it around. The ubiquitous red circle with a W and / through the W. And the statement, "Wake me up when it is over." Now the real challenge begins as Mr Obama and Crew start addressing the sorry state of affairs that America has become in our quest for global hegemony.

And I have to congratulate all Americans who voted for positive change in this country. Perhaps more of you realized that the non-negotiable life style we have enjoyed in this country for several generations is not really sustainable than I gave credit for. We all can't continue living in McMansions, driving SUVs everywhere, commuting by ourselves in big cars, shopping, consuming etc. We are maxed out on our credit cards and the world is collapsing around us and we are working harder and harder, demanding more and more and approaching the calamity of peak oil and climate change. The world, nature really, is trying to tell us something and we better wake up and start acting like the responsible adults we are all supposed to be.

The party is over vis a vis the financial meltdown where for some reason people thought they could get something for nothing. It really does not work that way - and I will be interested to see what the financial engineers come up with next. I am so disappointed that gasoline prices at the pump have fallen below two dollars a gallon. My sister called from Texas the day after the election and said, "damn, I wish McCain had won. I am sure gas would be this low if the Republicans had maintained control."

And I realize that yelling really does not do anything. I am tired of being yelled at. I am all for slowing down, smelling the roses, playing a card game, drinking tea in the middle of the afternoon, going for a walk or riding my bike, exercising more, getting the garden catalogs out to decide what to grow next summer, taking a nap, cleaning out a closet and only having two pairs of shoes, reading another book, things that are sustainable. And I can now say that I am pround to be an American.