Did you know that today is election day in the U.S.? You did? Right, well most everyone knows this. Here, we have been talking about the 2020 races for years. And finally, at long last, it's November 3rd and we're all voting. Well, that's not true: most of us have actually cast our ballot some time ago. COVID messed with everything, including pushing many of us to vote from our couches. So, there is an election in that after today, you can no longer vote.
But I spend very little time during the day thinking about this. There has been so much coverage of these elections (with good reason!) that I feel myself to be saturated. I know about the candidates, I know about strategies to victory, I know nearly everyone's opinion about everything. These days, people like to share.
Now, I'm as interested in results as the rest of you, but you don't actually get any results on election day and so thinking about it does you no good. Your work is done. You voted (if you didn't, you better have a good excuse, possibly not too hard to find in a country that forces you to vote during a work day rather than, say, the weekend). Maybe you helped with a campaign effort, or simply posted your views on candidates everywhere you could think of. But now it's done. Go do something else!
And I did just that: I did something else, on what happens to be the most beautiful November day we have ever had here in south central Wisconsin. Sunny, with a high of 68F (20C)! Unbelievably gorgeous!
(cheepers, gathering at their water fountain...)
Sure, the day starts off on the nippy side. That's to be expected. But hey, the climb toward spectacular is fast. We eat breakfast on the porch!
Well, Ed pushed for that: the cats came begging for company.
Next, both Ed and I set to work outside. I still don't have my bulbs to plant, but I have plenty of snipping and path laying work to keep me busy. Off with the jacket. Off with the sweatshirt. It's warm!
And still later in the afternoon, I visit with Snowdrop. Outside, distanced, masked.
With a mermaid.
In escorting the little girl back to her home, I pause for a little while to catch up with everyone. Since the kids have shed their masks by now, we maintain a *very* distanced distance! That's why you have a zoom lens on cameras, right?
(The whole gang...)
As I post this, we are still sort of watching elections results. (Mainly by keeping tabs open on our computers while we lose ourselves in a horrible crime drama series on TV. Three gruesome episodes in a row. Nothing like other people's gore and pain to take your mind off of, well, you know, the election.)
Will we stay up? Sure. I have to say, I am reminded of all previous presidential elections. Oftentimes, we would party away. My cooking magazines would have election supper ideas for a crowd of ten or twenty.
This year, dinner parties are out and even if it weren't for Covid, I don't think people watching the results trickle in are feeling particularly giddy or festive.
Okay, back to our show now. And if I fall asleep while watching the n'th episode of The Tunnel, well then, just wake me up when this is all over.
With love...
