This morning Alex was taking a first look at the voting tallies when they suddenly changed before her eyes.  The Associated Press had called the presidential election for Joe Biden.

Soon we heard cheering in the streets outside.  One of our neighbors stood on his balcony banging a copper pot with a wooden spoon.

A couple hours later I walked down to the library.  There was a demonstration underway in Westlake Plaza.  I was unsure of its theme at first — a gathering planned ahead might have featured demands to count or stop counting votes.  But as I passed it was Black Lives Matter, and an exhortation to hold officials accountable no matter what party they might belong to.  And to hold ourselves accountable as well.