We were in standstill traffic on the mall after spending time at the Smithsonians this afternoon when the president’s motorcade whirred past, headed towards the capital. Bean said, “There goes Joe Biden and Captain Ukraine…” and that about captures it.

If you’re one to observe such things, take a moment tonight to pause in the deep darkness and observe the stillness before the rebirth of the light part of the year. No matter what, the light always returns. It’s a hard lesson to learn; we are instinctively and culturally wary of the darkness. Trust that the light will return means we must know that darkness, have been in dark places, and seen the dawn for ourselves. I leave you the blessing the poet Robert Hunter once wrote, “If your cup is full, may it be again.”