OMG: Election Edition

 

(Yes, I wrote in Harris/Walz as I on the other side of the signs.) Bob and I went shopping on Saturday and Lo! There was a rally at the corner. I thought initially they were all maga lunatics, and yes, the supporters of the twice-impeached felonious orange monster had staked out the corner. But to our delight, they were flanked by Harris/Walz supporters on both sides of the corner!!

We shopped and I drove Bob home as he was not in a socially-engaging frame of mind and I returned to lend my enthusiasm to the Democratic cause. I'm glad I did!! It made me feel happier to see the energy of my fellow lovers of the Constitution and our democracy. Hooray for clear-headed people, unmuddled by the racism/sexism/homophobia/xenophobia/insanity pumped forth by trump and his weird followers. (A little Tucker Carlson, anyone? Don Jr.? JD Vance? Margery Taylor Green? Steve Bannon? Steven Miller?!?!? Oh what a weird list of certified weirdos!!)

Anyway, that's me, hoping crazee incels in big wheel trucks don't decide to pull a Charlottesville and off road all over us!! I made instant best buddies with the people on the Harris/Walz line and we all bonded over our rights and the stakes being as high as they are. We all face-palmed over "undecided voters" and the occasional mis-guided woman driving by giving us the finger. Please!!!

Some good signs and good messages! Happily, there (honestly) were more of US than THEM and I enjoyed the nice weather and nicer people. The maga crew just stood and glowered and generally looked like they had eaten something bad for lunch. (Dogs? Cats? Pets?!) 

I spent a good hour in the company of my fellow patriots and we cheered as people honked at us... although because of where we were positioned, it was hard to tell if they were honking for us or for the nut jobs at the very corner... I'll assume they were cheering us on!

Boy, I hope you can read these signs! The one on the left says, "It's Not Your Body". Well, whose it it then?!? This was the "pro-life" side with a woman carrying a sign reading , "Only Demons Kill Babies". Ay carumba! You make decisions for your body and let others make their own decisions... but I guess they really don't think it's a woman's right to chose even after rape or incest or her physical well-being. Oh don't get me started... 

'Tis the Season

 As you may have noticed, I am seriously interested in politics and especially this upcoming presidential election as democracy itself is on the line. And with COVID 19 on the rise (again), the issue of voting is increasingly fraught as so many obstacles present: who wants to risk voting in person (and perhaps standing in line for hours and hours as seen in some states with early voting?!*(1) and get sick, the rethuglicans are threatening to intimidate those that show up to vote in person, the US Postal Service is under attack and being messed up by... you guessed it! rethuglicans and (once more) rethuglicans are removing ballot boxes and polling stations in some states and putting out phony ballot boxes in others (like California: and they're putting them at churches and gun shops(!?!?)

So it stands to reason that Bob and I- taking no chances and trusting nothing to fate- sent out our requests for absentee ballots in a timely fashion. Most of our friends also requested their ballots and have voted, too. So Bob's ballot appeared about and a half  week ago; he signed it and drove it to the town hall and deposited it in the secure ballot drop box. I checked the mail box the next day, and the next day, thinking maybe they mailed the ballots out alphabetically and me being a "V", I was later in line. But a week went by and I'm starting to think, "Hello! Me of all people! I'm constantly haranguing friends to vote early and I'm not getting my ballot. Maybe they put me on a "Do Not Let her Vote" List." Yesterday, I finally called the town hall and they agreed I should have received one as it had been sent out like two weeks ago!

This morning, I went to the town hall in person and had to sign a request for a replacement ballot. The irony, of course, is that I had to put in an appearance and I've been seriously trying to minimize the time I spend in public. I filed the form and then asked that they give me the ballot so I could fill it out RIGHT NOW, which I did as I had no need to reconsider for whom I was voting. 

I asked for am "I Voted" sticker but they didn't have any so I'll have to make my own.

So... I VOTED!! But I did have to work at it...

*(1) And leave it to me to wonder where do you go take a pee if you're standing in line for hours at a time?!? That's a major concern!

Pleasant Pictures Amidst Turmoil and Despair

 

I'm not even being facetious about my blog title this time around. This blog posting is going to be a visual interlude; a swan song to summer and an appreciation of flowers on this chilly, rainy October day. Above, brilliant sky blue plumbago, blooming it's proverbial pants off on our kitchen table. Such an amazing color! It's almost enough to make us forget that the consequential presidential election is a mere 22 days. Yikes!!!!!! Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be soothing pictures of flowers?

And look at the fiery vibrancy of our good friend Roberts's "Caliente" dahlias? Coupled with lime green coleus (I believe that's "Wasabi") and the equally lemon/lime leaves and red seed pods of "Jewels of Opar (Talinum) it's a pop of much needed color in the house as summer fades. And alas! Most of our dahlias have already died in an early frost; Roberta's garden is only 15 minutes south but much warmer. The heat of these beautiful blooms almost eliminates the chill I'm feeling when contemplating the possibility of four more years of The Orange Menace, steering us towards death, destruction, mayhem and NO!!!!!

Here's a small and innocent group of the last marigolds from the cut flower garden. I like to offer up a small arrangement to the residents of my dragon shrine. Maybe they bring us good luck? I sure hope so because we sure as fuck need good luck! Over 212,000 people dead of COVID 19 and no end in sight of isolation and social distancing and mask wearing and STOP!!!!

Okay, okay: I promise to end on a note of simple, glorious eruption of color. Asters! One of my absolute favorite type of flower. They're so late and yet sport pinks and purples and powdery lavender blue that I might more readily associate with spring. They're tall and wild and smell like hay fields and they billow in explosions of end of season exuberance. Just as I give up on the garden and  dread the approach of winter and try to think of next year's garden... Ta Da!! the asters explode and prolong what remains of this season. See? I kept my word and ended in a better frame of mind... Just keep thinking "flowers".