Early Voting

I stopped in at the local library yesterday, to look around their book-sale room. Now that we have a newer and larger library building here, they've devoted one nice-sized room just for sale books. It's always open, with one staff member there to take the money and arrange the books for sale..... most of the books are once-read, in excellent condition.

I stop in from time to time to see what they have for sale, and I always find a new copy of something that I've been looking for..... and with their price of just one dollar for hardcovers and 50 cents for softcovers, you just can't find a better bargain in books. Yesterday, I found a new hardcover copy of "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil." I always find someone we know who hasn't read that book, and I give it to them. Such a great book...... so much so that it prompted this past summer's trip to Savannah, Georgia.

Anyway, in the midst of yesterdays errands, I stopped at the library along the way while I was passing that road. I didn't realize that the "early voting" was going on at the library, and the voting machines were set up in the small meeting room, right across the hall from the book sale room. Well, how could I resist that? There wasn't a line, just a few people at the voting machines. (Which is also an improvement, because we used to vote with a pencil and paper when we first moved down here.)

Who to vote for...... I swear, all these people running for all the offices of the city government.... you don't hear from them or about them until they're ready to talk you into voting for them on Election Day. And my pet peeve, this and every year, are all the political signs that crop up all over town at least two months before the election, and don't come down till everyone starts putting up Christmas decorations.

In our subdivision, we're not allowed to post signs of any kind.... the only exception being real estate signs when a house is being sold. Used to be that we would see just one or two political signs in this entire neighborhood, and they wouldn't be on someone's lawn for too many days before the "subdivision police" sent them a letter requesting they look at their deed-restriction rules against signs and take the sign down.

Well, I don't know if the subdivision police are slacking on the job or have disbanded altogether, because this year, political signs are popping up on lawns like wildflowers. My neighbor next door (who hasn't ever put up any sort of sign) has three on her lawn, the neighbor at our corner has two, and the neighbor on the other corner has one. Every time my husband and I see those signs, we say that we should sneak out in the middle of the night and take them down--- or at least switch them around, to see if anyone is paying attention. Of course, we wouldn't do that, but it sure is fun to talk about.

So there I was in front of the voting machine yesterday.... who to vote for? Well, of course...... I found the names on the ballot that I hadn't seen on all the signs in our neighborhood. Most of the signs are from the Republican and the Democratic parties..... the other names (not on the seven-zillion signs) are from Independent parties. And that's who got my votes yesterday....... the candidates who haven't littered the community with all those blessed signs.

Now that isn't exactly the smartest way to cast a ballot, but it sure did make me feel good yesterday.