"Back to old clothes and porridge"

Mary, George's cousin who lives in Scotland, used that phrase at the end of a lovely vacation she and her husband had with us.

The campaign is over. The election is over. The inauguration is over. The party is over. So back we go to our old clothes and porridge.

But that's plenty good enough for me. Nothing gets done when we're in our party clothes, and we know it's time to get things done.

The thing we have to hang on to, the thing we can't put away -- that's the knowledge that we can make a difference. We no longer have the excuse that it won't make any difference one way or the other. Because it does. Now it does. And the hardest thing of all for me will be to listen, really listen to people who have different perspectives. For a tolerant liberal, I can be pretty darn intolerant. That's a personal goal.

Maybe I'll learn something. Maybe I won't.

But it's a place to start. My heart is ready and willing. Now I have to get my head into the act.