The orange red candle that was all of October burned so warmly until finally melting into November. Westerly winds blew at the wick. Autumn seemed to be under attack with gusts carrying a chilling kiss of winter.
The trees now bare their limbs. Leaves line the forest floor in a regal brown carpet. All of nature prepares for the regal homecoming of winter.
The smaller lives are still. The toads have disappeared. Fresh grass no longer sprouts. Flies and butterflies and dragonflies disappear.
November began with warmth. With Election Day here, the winds stir me. Winter is coming.
How would I have written of this election? How would a person describe the political climate? I had thought of urging citizens to vote. Without urging one versus the other, I would rather have encouraged citizens how to vote.
What? How?
I had been asked if I would have voted by mail-in ballot. Yes, yes I would have voted by mail. Of course, the issue of mail-in ballots itself had become a hot political issue in which racial, demographic and political forces exploded into issues of fairness and fraud.
Superficially the issue seems straightforward if not simplistic. Ensuring citizens could vote seems correct. How about requiring identification when voting? Again, the issue seems simple.
Those simple days are gone. If there is one blanket statement it would be that no issue in politics today is simple.
And none of the issues should be treated as such.
Another issue was the reversal of the Supreme Court decision on Roe versus Wade which guaranteed abortion rights. The reversal signified a ruling of the court that the right to abortion should lie in the legislature of the individual state.
Sigh.
In this political cocktail we still need to add inflation, immigration, climate change and foreign policies to the first two issues. Wah, lah! One now sees the scope of issues to which each candidate must answer.
Some candidates and incumbents make ghostly promises. Their words haunt the election in ads and debate. We toss those words around to determine if they are real or not. Are they substantive?
So, I would have urged us all to cast our votes with grace, compassion and wisdom. No matter what the outcome I would urge us to plan for future elections in the same manner.
Why?
We have changed. Two ballot workers were focused upon in a recent news story. They had been poll workers for years. Proud of their duty. Serious in the execution of their duties. In the last election, the investigation of election tampering had focused upon them. It came to studying the behaviors and actions of these two workers.
Their movements were interpreted to be those of actions such as putting objects in a pocket. Or the worker leaned on a chair in a certain manner which suggested an inappropriate, hidden motion.
The conclusion would depend upon the judgement of the viewer, but the allegations were never substantiated. In the interview, the two poll workers described the trauma of being accused. Other poll workers described how they now wear protective vests to shield against gunfire.
Our poll workers are afraid.
What?
The two workers, after years of honorable service, walk away now from such duty.
To my fellow citizens…please, grace, compassion and wisdom.
Okay, and tenacity. Yep. Personally, my innermost definition melts a softness with the worthiness of me as woman warrior.
But that’s another story!
Lots of love,
Stephanie
Stephanie Springborn 