So... you don't like Obama or Clinton?

Well, all the stars must have been in perfect alignment and whatever gods and deities that exist must have been pulling overtime to make sure today went off without a hitch. Which it did. Thinking about it, I really ought to have bought a lottery ticket or some damn thing.
My father came down from the gulf island on which he lives to join us for a family dinner at my mom's house. It doesn't sound like much of a big deal, except that it was my mother's family that was coming and my dad isn't their biggest fan (for reasons that are decipherable solely by him). Moreover my grandmother and her husband were coming, and my father hasn't seen her for years and had yet to meet her husband.
So I show up and my nana and Ed were already there and in the living room chatting with my dad. I furtively whispered to my mother, as I grabbed a glass of white wine - size large - "How's it going in there?" to which she looked at me curiously and said, "It seems to be going fine." Fine? Did my dad swipe some of my muscle relaxants? See, as per my previous blog: I am my father's daughter. And, if you can believe it, I am somewhat of a toned down version. Yeah, I'm not even kidding. To boot, my parents are very liberal and quite anti-establishment and Ed is... let's call him old-school and rather conservative. My mother is quiet and doesn't prefer to rock the boat, though she will push back when necessary. My father is a little more raucous in his approach to dealing with differences in politics and theories. So it was with no small amount of amazement that Ed (and, oddly, my nana) mentioned their dislike of both Obama and Clinton and my father remained entirely silent. I started to choke on my chocolate tort and had really odd heart palpitations as Ed started waxing Republican. Not a word from my dad. He made funny jokes and told amusing stories all evening and did nothing untoward. It was crazy.
Then my nana had a bit too much wine and put on this large sunhat and started prancing around and laughing a lot and then they took off. No incidents. No arguments. Nothing. Needless to say, it was not at all what I had expected and it was awesome. I didn't argue politics either. Okay, I did start to argue and my aunt was like, "The Canucks are playing tonight! How about those Canucks!" really loudly and I got the hint.
Anyways, it was cool. My dad is mellowing. I can mellow too. I did mellow. I had a mellow drive into South Surrey and didn't finger a single person. On the way home I sang "G! L! O! R! I! Glooooria!" with van Morrison and took great pleasure in the simple act of driving my car and being alone with my music and my thoughts for an hour.
I've been told that I hold onto to things too tightly. I agree: I'm a little intense. Today I just went with the flow and it was surprisingly easy and enjoyable. The whiffle bat of righteousness appears to be gathering a nice layer of dust...