Top five surprises in the election:

5. “Not a witch” is also “not an effective campaign slogan.”

4. The new definition of fiscal conservative: “willing to spend $142 million in pursuit of a job with an annual salary of $212,000.”

3. The surprising power of the previously obscure “aqua Buddha” voting bloc.

2. Glenn Beck’s tally of Republican votes: “167 kajillion!”

1. John Boehner, Nov. 1: “We need more bipartisanship!” John Boehner, Nov. 3: “Screw bipartisanship!”

Critter Central

The bear hasn't been back since Tuesday, but Thursday night we had another visitor to our deck -- a raccoon. I flipped on the lights and went outside to chase him off, and he did what raccoons tend to do: stood there and looked at me, like "Lady, stop making that annoying noise. I'm trying to raid your deck here." With no bird feeders out any more, there wasn't anything for him to raid, so he finally ambled off. 

So, in summary: big ol' bear who could kill me with a couple of swipes of his paws runs off when I shoo him off the deck. Little raccoon I could seriously smack around just stares me down. And don't even get me started on the hummingbirds. Those tiny little things are fearless.