Early Voting.

Yesterday was the first day of Early Voting, and the machines were set up in our local library. I got there around 10:30 in the morning and in less than half an hour, I was in the building and at the machine and casting my vote.

I had brought a book to read while I waited on line because I didn't want to get into any sort of "Who are you voting for?" discussion while I was waiting, nor did I want to take pamphlets from the campaigners for the local people running for office. I kept my nose in my book and didn't look up till I got into the community room of the library.

I was happy to have that done, and glad not to have to wait till Election Day, when I know the lines will be longer, the campaigners more aggressive, and there will be even more signs posted on the library lawns. There must be thousands of signs there now, popping up like dandelions all over the lawn. Should be a law against all those signs.... they're just a legal form of litter, in my opinion.

In our subdivision, according to the community association rules, we're not supposed to have signs of any sort stuck into our lawns or in front of our homes. The only exceptions are "For Sale" signs by registered real estate companies. Come election time, however, that no-sign rule goes out the window, and homeowners feel the need to tell the world who they're voting for and put not just one political sign on their lawn but sometimes two or three. And some signs do get stolen, for goodness sake, which surprises me, since we live in a subdivision where all sorts of pretty lawn ornaments are all over the front gardens of just about every house. No one ever touches any of those, but the political signs seem to be exempt from the "Thou shalt not steal" commandment. One of my neighbors put a red-lettered note on her political sign: Free speech is a wonderful thing. If y'all steal my sign again, I will just get another one.

I told my husband a couple of weeks ago (when the signs started going up on our street) that we should make our own red/white/blue sign that says "Vote For Gracie... dog biscuits for everyone!" If my husband hadn't been so busy, he probably would have gotten creative with his computer and made up such a sign.

As for me, I've been too busy getting ready for the Halloween party to be making up Vote For Gracie signs. The inside of this house looks as Halloween-y as it can possibly look. I've added so many Halloween decorations this year that I had to spend an afternoon rearranging my storage closets, so all of these pumpkins and black cats and little ghosts can be put away in one place when Halloween is over. The best decorations are the vintage ones, which I got for such a little amount of money in the thrift and resale shops.

This year is going by so quickly. Once these Halloween decorations go back into their closet, the Christmas things come out. It takes so long to decorate the whole house for Christmas that I just by-pass Thanksgiving, with just the dining room table getting Thanksgiving decorations. The rest of the house will be all Christmas-ed out before I even buy the turkey.

Turkey. I really don't like turkey. Couldn't the pilgrims have had more imagination for Thanksgiving? Like shrimp or lobster?