Early Voting,

I'd had a lovely conversation with at least six women of diverse backgrounds while waiting for the two hours it took to vote in this election.

As must happen in a line to fulfill one's civic obligation that last more than 15 minutes, we hit the normal notes everyone sings when they meet new people. Married...children...jobs...the storm...and eventually, politics.  

Up until now, we'd been a happy group.  Then a woman said, "You can tell who the GOP voters are, they're all grumpy.  They have no pep, no bubble in their personalities."

"I'm bubbly." I said.

"Well, the GOP is racist."
"I'm not racist." I answered.
"Well no, not all GOP voters are racists."
"But it hurts when you say that. You wouldn't like it if it were said about you. It can't not hurt."

She put her arm around me for a moment. "You're okay."  and I wanted to point out, I know lots of people. They're okay too.   Racism is a hatred born of the human heart not the political party.   What I said was, "We are all flawed, we are all broken.  Politics promises to somehow right the fallen condition of the world via a solution that causes no pain.  Anyone who believes they can through policy create a Utopia where every need is met and all is good, has forgotten the fundamental nature of the human heart.  We're sinful creatures.  We fail because we're fallen."  They all agreed.  I wasn't trying to sway votes. I was just reminding them that these sorts of sweeping statements, be they about Catholics, immigrants, handicapped, parties, economically disadvantaged, the rich, the whoever, do a disservice because they paint everyone who can be lumped into the category as an unworthy of being known other, and thus allows whoever posits the sweeping statement to ignore alternative understandings/questions about alternative outcomes that may come from policy and politics.  

Our conversations drifted back into happier places, whether the hype of the storm was real, why couldn't school be cancelled later?  How much someone could make running a concessions stand, particularly if they sold beer.  We laughed.

We're all Americans.  We're all voting.  We're all so committed to voting, we've been here for two hours away from home, away from doing chores to help get ready for the storm. This is a good.

Yet politics always promises the lure of perfection without the work/sweat/time/pain involved  As the noted great Pirate Roberts said, "Life is pain. Anyone who says different is selling something."  There are no easy answers. There are no easy quick fix solutions.  Tough problems require tough decisions and will be hard, both to pass and to enforce.

Here we were, standing in line for two hours and had grate conversations about all sorts of things before we went to our separate voting booths to cast our ballots.  We had far more in common than politics would pretend.  After two hours of talking heart and head to heart and head, we did not see monsters and we could disagree and while the world is not changed in a big way, maybe it was changed in a little.

As a nation, as a people, we've grown.  300 years ago, we were not yet born.  200 years ago, we were fighting the war of 1812, Less than 100 years ago, we were gaining the right to vote for women, followed by the civil rights acts a mere 44 years later. We are still an adolescent nation, testing what should be held true.   But I trust her people and I don't have to agree with everyone for that to remain firmly true.  

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1.  Lightning, Thunder and Water Oh My!

This week, we awoke to 90 strikes of lightning. Naturally the power went out.  Later in the day, it rained four inches in the course of an hour, causing the window outside the basement bedroom to fill up with water.  It seeped through the window and proceeded to drench everything.  I have to praise my children for rallying in a crisis. 

My teen waded into waste deep water and began bailing.  His brother waited to drag the bin of water out into the yard so it wouldn't drain back into the well of the window.  Two of my daughters began ferrying towels to blot up the mess and piled stuffed animals not soaked on a bed.  When the daughter whose stuff had been ruined sobbed that she didn't want to live in the basement anymore, her younger sister softly and immediately offered, "She can have my room." 

2.  Eat Pray Love

I read this during my vacation because it's been on the best seller list for three years and so I finally got around to it.  My first thoughts are reading this book felt similar to eating the most decadent pizza available in Naples.  It is oozing with cheesy tastiness but absolutely unhealthy if you make a habit of it.  While Elizabeth may be an engaging writer and I did enjoy her words and word play, the quest to repair one's self from one's own deliberate self destruction via a year long vacation from being obligated to anyone but one's self through Italy, India and Indonesia; eventually wearied.  You can only live on that kind of stuff for so long, and then it fails to satisfy.  The whole spiritual quest is a transcontinental indulgence.

3. New Things

My laptop got a virus this week, hence the light blogging.  It was an old machine and so when I found the repair would cost only 50 less than a replacement, guess what happened.  So I'm cruising on my slick new blue Inspiron Dell and it's like having a rent a car, it doesn't yet feel like home to write.

4. Anniversary

This week, we subjected our children to viewing our wedding mass.  It's a yearly experience for my husband and me and a tad bittersweet as the number of deceased on the video continues to grow and they all look so beautiful and vibrant and alive; it's a reminder to savor each moment, even when things are absolutely not how we would plan or want.  I love seeing all these people with smiles recorded in perpetuity. 

5. Fall Carnival

Yes, I'm at it again, planning the Fall Festival for our school.  I'm asking for prayers to make this happen and to help get the people we need to make this a community building event.  In this day and age, with so many stressed about money and jobs, we need a bit of sweetness and light so I'm hoping people will be willing to give a bit of their time to make this a fun day for all.  I've got a month and six days to pull it all together. 

6. Permanent Optimist

When we were faced with the momentary mess of the basement, my son would occasionally cry out because it was icky and gross and cold hard work.  I had purchased two t-bones for the anniversary feast which we didn't get to eat on the 11th, so to coax him through the hard points, I offered him my steak.  This was a good bribe.

I remarked, "It was a good thing we didn't have this to eat yesterday." my son who was receiving the t-bone winced.  "Mom. Do you always have an optimist perspective? Do you always have to look for the bright side?" 

"Pretty much yes." I answered.   Just after dinner, power went out again and the whole house was pitch black. 

The two oldest daughters would have to sleep upstairs with their other sisters because of the mess. I turned to my oldest son and said, "It's a good thing they aren't sleeping downstairs tonight." 

"Why?" he asked. 

 "Because the little girls would be scared about the darkness if they weren't there."  That optimism, it's in my blood.  I just can't help it.  

7.  Missing Tomatoes

This year, we're still waiting for big red ones.  I am going to take a trip to the local orchard because Summer demands an olive oil basalmic vinegar garlic tomato salad. My father-in-law taught me how to make this salad back when we first moved to Maryland and it has been a staple of my summer diet ever since.  Given the fact that I did not pass my glucola test (I have to take the three hour version), I'm going to eat this BEFORE I take the long test in case it gets placed on the prohibited food list. 

You can do 7 Quick Takes Too over at Betty Beguiles who is subbing for Conversion Diary this week!  I'm altering between Quick takes and Small Success so as to keep up the writing without having to struggle to produce two set pieces that are essentially lists in the same week.