going outside

I have never seen this many people walking in the Civil War park, so many elderly. It is a beautiful day, sunny, in the high 70's. But there have been many days like this, and I have been the only one out there. In passing, people manage to muster a weak, insincere smile, as if they have lost a dear relative. Maybe this is a way of healing from the disappointment. Maybe the country going Democratic has brought them back to their roots with nature. Or maybe they are trying to reconnect with the past, a past that they feel is gone forever. Thankfully, it is.

after all is said and done

The sun has still risen in Williamson County this morning. The birds have not distinguished between this day and the last; they are busily going about their task of preparing for the winter, heeding the command of the trees decked out in stately autumn robes. The sun makes its way through a thicket of shrubs, comes to rest on a patch that becomes transformed into a glowing orb of yellow light that is brighter than anything seen on a summer dawn.

The sun has still risen in the South, shining over the red pool of lifeblood that courses itself up through the center of the country. This is a place that I have come to know as a welcomed guest during the past year and a half. Despite our differences, we have embraced eachother; sometimes reluctantly, but with the underlying understanding that we are, outside of any ideological disagreements that are historically North/South, fellow Americans.

The political yard signs are slowly disappearing into dusty garages. I can't help but cherish the pride I had last night for my native city of Chicago as she welcomed a new era in our country, yet I also realize a sort of empathetic sadness for these people here, who I now have a better, less biased understanding of, for their sense of hopelessness in the midst of a new consciousness of hope that has transpired over the past few months, culminated in the celebration at Grant Park last night.

But enough of the sentimentalities for now. My writing is tainted too much by them, and it is easy to be condescendingly sentimental when you are on the winning side of an issue. A simple task to say "Let us move forward together as a country" when you are not stinging from loss.

After living in Germany for over two years, I realized that the best way to overcome fear and misinformation about some things in life is to educate oneself about the other humans sharing this planet. "Love your neighbor" is a maxim that we should all aspire to live by, but "Embrace those with whom you have little understanding" is what we should all be striving for at this point in our history. Our country depends on it.

VOTE, dammit! Just pick someone!

I am a blue girl living in a redneck state.

My neighborhood is pretty much a solid advertisement for McCain/Palin, and all it cost the party was the posters. Just recently in a white upper-middle class subdivision across town, the car of a black man was vandalized with a sharpie. You can only guess what was written.

This worries me. Makes me think that maybe my vote won't count for much here in Tennessee. This is wrong thinking, though. If everyone thought like me, elections would turn out differently.

Vote your conscience and what you truly believe will be the best choice for this country. Don't vote for McCain because Palin has great legs, or for Obama because he has such a non-threatening, non-"Dr. Evil" smile. I hate to even say that, but I know that this may come down to a popularity contest. The nursing station at work is littered not with news journals, but with tabloid magazines. Americans love celebrity. There's no sense in denying it.

I read an article that interviewed people from Detroit on how race and gender will affect their voting decisions. One man replied with something along the lines of "It's come down to a black man or a woman, so what's a [white] guy like me to do?"

This election is forcing a lot of people to confront their stereotypes and prejudices. I would not vote for Palin just because she is a woman like myself, even though I have espoused many of Gloria Steinem's ideas. I would not refrain from voting for Obama just because I grew up in the midst of white-flight in Chicago's south suburbs.

I will vote for who I believe will lead our country down the right path. I will vote for ideas.

The Bible teaches that we shouldn't cling to ephemeralities and materialism. The two are synonymous. Whether you believe in the truth of the Bible or not, in light of the economic situation of the country at this moment, this is wisdom.

My ultimate point in all of this rambling is: Vote for America, and the ideas that you still believe in, even though they may seem nonexistent in this day and age of lobbyists and bought politicians.

Or be a revolutionary. Screw both of the pre-packaged candidates and vote independent!