(Hunter)

Since the night of November 4th, I've noticed an odd phenomenon in our house: my wife and daughter are dancing to the news!

Our household is addicted to news. Often our days pull us in separate directions, but we usually gather for the local radio station's newscasts. We wake up in the morning to international news, listen to a separate international report during lunch, and make and eat dinner listening to the evening's local, state, Native American, and international news. This is not a hard and fast schedule—our life is not that structured—but this is definitely the pattern.

Our habit of listening to the news has not been very happy. News, especially these last few years has not been overwhelmingly good. But we're beginning to see some changes for the better. National reports are now heavily sprinkled with the term, "President-Elect Obama." Many refer to when Obama takes office. And lately, the state news reports that indicted State Senator Ted Stevens is behind in the ongoing vote count for his seat. These mentions elicit little jigs of satisfaction, even joy from Gardener and Apprentice.

Your political viewpoint may not lead you to be so happy about these recent events, but considering all the bad news these days, perhaps you'll take a bit of hope knowing that at least some of your fellow Americans are listening to the news, and finding something worth dancing about!