I voted.

Indulge a little off-topic conversation, won't you?

The historic nature of the vote hit me more than expected in the booth.

My mom (the kids' grandmother) was an organizer for NOW in Oklahoma, trying (ultimately in vain) to get that state to pass the ERA. When I was about Ella's age, I dressed up in old-fashioned clothes (those clothes are still in the kids' dress-up supplies) and would go to meetings of the local feminist group and such, and read -- satirically -- a (real) letter to the editor, written early in the 20th century by a young boy, explaining why women should not get the right to vote. The reasons ("too emotional," "weaker brains," that sort of thing) echoed many of the reasons for why people opposed the ERA, and, not incidentally, reasons occasionally muttered as to why Senator Clinton can't be president.

My maternal grandparents had crosses burned in their yard in Arkansas for having an African-American foster child. Didn't change what they did at all. And it wasn't that long ago. Liam's middle name is Gordon after that grandfather (who is still alive); Ella's middle name is Alma after that grandmother (who died eleven years ago).

It's a remarkable day and a remarkable election season. No doubt it affects many people more directly than it does me. But there's some genuine amazement to be part of this, isn't there?