It's Another New Year

         Another year bites the dust.  This is my 75^th year.  Hard to believe the earth has circled the sun 75 times, but, apparently, it has.  I always start contemplating the New Year on Christmas day because Christ’s (supposed) birth on December 25^th – arbitrary date which some scholars, but not all, associate with Saturnalia.  This was a Roman festival which ran for 23 days celebrating the agricultural bounty of the harvest just concluded.  It was also associated with the winter solstice.  People celebrated with wreaths, candles, good food and gift giving.  Sound familiar?  Christmas has always had this secular connection culminating in our 21^st century culture in “Santa”, or St. Nicolas, or Kris Kringle, or a myriad of other names Santa is known by around the world.    

          My point is I always start contemplating the new beginnings a New Year offers on Christmas Day.  I’ve been looking up quotations concerning the New Year, and my favorite is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote”  "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year". The quote continues, "He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety".  Isn’t that great?  It’s a reminder that worry is unfaithful.  

        The first person who said that to me was my friend, Frank Swenson.  I was fretting and stewing about EVERYTHING.  That was my mother’s specialty – think of everything that possibly could or would go wrong, and get PREPARED.  At the emotional level, she was very unhappy most of the time because she was so stressed trying to control everything.   However, she was ruthlessly organized and always prepared.  That mindset explains why.  One mantra I always use to help keep myself focused on what I can truly control is:  WORRY IS UNFAITHFUL. 

I always commit at the beginning of every year to find the bright side, silver lining, the ability to keep on no matter what, and to only solve the problem in front of me.  [I’m actually a little in love with Emerson.  I find his musings to be insightful, concise, and even two centuries later, to be understandable and relatable to 21^st century life.]

January 5th is an important day in the life of my family.  That day is part of my New Year's contemplations.  January 5, 2025 would have been my brother’s 72^nd birthday.  I know my nephew will be thinking of him today.  My best ‘Billy’ story happened before he used a single addictive substance:  He was in middle school.  As usual, he was large for his age, popular and could already tell spellbinding stories.  At 13 he was already a piped piper.  The story goes that he saw some bully beating up on some kid we would call a nerd today in the school hallway.  Billy pushed the bully off the kid at which point the bully decided to challenge Billy to a fight after school. 

Billy Sartor

Billy loved to fight.  His only concern was (1) his watch, which one of his minions happily held during the actual fight, and (2)  my Dad would find out he’d been fighting.  He proceeded to beat the bully into the ground.  I heard this story from two guys at Bill’s funeral who had known him since elementary school.  I suspect some version of this story is true because Billy (the boy) had a sense of fairness and what was ‘right’.  This is one of my favorite stories about my brother.  I always wonder who he might have become without his addictions changing him and his life. 

 

Wedding Day, January 5, 1946

Jo and Bill Sartor, 50+ years of marriage

Joan & William Sartor, January 5, 1946

 On a happier note, January 5^th is  also my parents’ wedding anniversary.  There was a huge storm with snow and ice the day of their wedding.  It was a small affair to start with – mostly family with a few friends in the West Tulsa local Methodist church with the punch and cake reception in the basement.  In 1946 there was no alcohol, a few presents, and life went on.  Mother and Dad went to their newly rented garage apartment pulled on a sled!  Mother was 20 and Dad was 22.  They met when she was a sophomore in high school.  They dated until Dad graduated in 1943.  He immediately went to the Army-Air Corps.  They decided not to marry because Mother was really too young, and Dad didn’t want to leave a widow behind and a possible child.  He expected to be killed because in 1943 the war still hung in the balance   Air-Corpsmen fighting from planes didn’t have an expectation of longevity.  They wrote letters throughout the war.  The day he returned to Tulsa, he appeared on Mother’s parents’ doorstep with a dozen red roses.  [This would have been the equivalent of a couple of hundred dollars in today’s money and an extravagant gift.]  I try to think of their feelings in that moment in time.

They loved each other for more than 60 years before she died.  My father adored her.  He was the passive partner in the relationship.  Mother always led everything.  I know they had a very active sex life.  I learned that by accident – my father in his dementia had zero filter after Mother passed.  She would have been horrified.

He always gave her special cards especially for their anniversary.  He would keep them in the glove box of his truck until the ‘day’.  I realized Dad was deep into dementia when Mother began recycling her ‘cards’ – she kept them – because Dad could no longer function enough to buy a new one.  There was rarely enough money for any type of gift on their anniversaries, but there was no doubt of their devotion.  It was a living marriage with ups, downs, and sideways happenings; it was always real and very satisfying to both partners.  Overall, it was an introduction to what a successful marriage actually looked like.  What a gift,

This day of the birthday and anniversary being on the same day is the time each year I contemplate my family and growing up.  I was very lucky to have such loving parents, but I was also a product of the double standards of the time period.  It took me a long time to gain self confidence, and become grounded in who I was.  I suspect that’s true of most of us.  

Finally, have a Happy New Year because each day of each year can be a blessing and a new beginning.  

Spotsylvania

 We live in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.  It is an old county; established in 1721.  It's called the 'crossroads' of the Civil War.  Four major battles were fought here during the Civil War.  It is in this county that the strategy of war shifted from formations marching toward one another loading and firing.  This formation strategy is something seen in the Revolutionary War.  The British considered the Americans 'cheating' because they hid behind trees and rocks firing from cover.  General Grant and General Lee decided to entrench troops behind earthen works strengthened with timbers higher than the soldiers' heads.  Then, the fighting was with artillery, calvary, and in areas where the trenches were close - with hand to hand fighting.  

36,000 Union soldiers and 24,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or missing.  These battles occurred in May of 1864; it is here that Grant is first accused of being a 'butcher' because of the staggering losses during this particular battle called the Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield.  Grant knew he could replace his soldiers while Lee could not.  The irony of this battle is Grant didn't win any ground, and he withdrew with a loss after ten plus days of intense fighting.  

We took a driving tour of this battlefield, and walked a small trail of a little over a mile.  Considering the trouble with my back, knees, and feet, I was surprised how well I managed.  The weather was glorious today.  We are having a down year for leaf peeping because the weather hasn't cooperated for beautiful leaves.  That said, I haven't been disappointed with the leaf scenery.  

Inside the Spotsylvania Battlefield

If you'd like to see more pictures of the area, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3UYvVfEqjzPFNztu9

Want to Know Your Future?

Sometimes you just have a unique experience.  That happened to me this week.  I cashed in Drake's birthday gift.  Here's a little background about how this came about.  First, we joined Planet Fitness, in Spotsylvania County, VA, and we take advantage of our free Silver Sneakers membership almost everyday.  Each day we go exercise, we pass this sign:

I have to admit this sign just kept calling to me.  After days and days of driving past this sign, I told Drake I'd like a Tarot reading from Sabrina.  Sure enough, as a birthday gift, Drake bought me a Tarot reading.  With two cataract surgeries on September 26 AND October 1 notwithstanding all the drops and follow-up appointments, I was finally able to book my Tarot Reading appointment. Ok, Ok, I can see a big number of readers out there rolling your eyes.  Drake, the curmudgeonly skeptic, is at the head of that line.

My mother is about 37 - 1962

I, however, believe there are a great many things unseen in this universe, and furthermore, I believe there are human beings who have abilities some others may not have.  In other words, do I believe some people have psychic abilities?  Yes, I do.  I grew up with a person who had a small psychic gift.  For as long as I lived with my parents, I watched my mother more times than I can count on all my fingers and toes suddenly just stop what she was doing, look inward, and say something to effect, "I need to call ________; something is going on."  She would then pick up the phone, and just inquire.  On the other end, I would ALWAYS hear something like, "Oh, Joan, I'm so glad you called!  _______  (fill in name here) had just been in a car wreck, had a heart attack, come down with _________(fill in the disease), is in the hospital or occasionally, had DIED.  Eventually, people quit asking her how she knew.  Her reply was always, "I just had a feeling."  I never heard anybody she contacted, say everything was OK.  I guess that experience made me more amenable to psychics.

Here's what happened at my Tarot Reading.  First, I very carefully didn't give Ms. Sabrina any 'clues'.  I wore nothing with a logo on it.  My only jewelry was by $8 wedding ring.  I wore simple make-up and tidy hair.  When I sat down, she first told me about herself.  She's been in business for 15 years at this same place - it's her house with the garage converted to her studio.  That makes her an institution in greater Fredericksburg.  This has always been a major road in Spotsylvania County.  Plank Road refers to the planks laid down in the 1850's going eastbound toward Fredericksburg to handle the heavy wagon loads of goods flowing into the town.  The unplanked road goes back to before the Revolutionary War.  It is now a divided highway, four lanes on each side with turn lanes; every commercial establishment in this part of Spotsylvania County has a presence on Plank Road.  The population growth of this county has exploded around Sabrina.  Everyone who's lived here any length of time knows who she is.

According to her, she is a third generation psychic with the 'gift' passing from her grandmother to her mother to her.  She remembers knowing the future about people from the time she was six years old.  She also feels like this is an inborn gift.   According to her, you can't read a bunch of books, buy a pack of Tarot cards and declare you are now a psychic.  She feels there is a spiritual world which interacts with us.  [Not too far off from interacting with the Holy Spirit, but I'm sure that would be considered blasphemy.]  I still had told her nothing about myself.

The 'reading' cost $75  (because everybody reading this blog wants to know the price) lasted one hour and was focused on the near future - she called it 'the next 'season' - which is the upcoming Autumn and Winter.  Sabrina had two stacks of cards.  One stack was the traditional Tarot pack, and the other pack were in the Tarot style, but were not labeled. I asked her about the second stack, and apparently they were cards her personal family has always used.  She asked me to think of a question I would like for her to answer.  

She shuffled both decks of cards while she talked and several times more before she started laying out cards. {You'll be glad to know the 'death card' didn't pop up.  I was certainly relieved.}  The cards were dealt out in three groups:  About myself.  About family.  About marriage.  She pointed out this was what she 'saw'.  For instance, she DIDN'T SAY "On October 29th, you'll find an envelope of money."  It was rather a premonition of possibilities.  Yes, yes, you can tell anybody anything, but it was more enlightening to hear than I expected.

First:  About Myself in the upcoming season.  According to Sabrina, it's time to focus on ME.  She felt I've been too busy doing many things which I felt were mandatory whether I wanted to do them or not.  Duh.  Eight months moving cross country, buy house, remodel house, put in all the 'stuff'.  So, yes, I'm ready to stop cooking six/seven meals a week because I'm too tired to get cleaned up to go out.  I'm ready to start exploring this area.  I'm ready to watch fewer sports.  

Now, I just have to give myself permission to do these things.  I still feel vaguely guilty when I'm not busy all the time.  I thought this section of the reading was the 'weakest'.  Who wouldn't want to be told:  "Do things for yourself which you enjoy."  The next two portions of the reading really got to me.

Second group of cards:  About my Family:  She turned over a card, looked up and said:  "Tell your daughter she's going to be offered a good opportunity in her career in the coming season, but she should turn it down since there will be a better one in the next season,"  (spring/summer).  I never told her I had a daughter or that she had a career.  

What came next was even more amazing:  When she turned the next card, she said:  "There's a male child, but I'm seeing ambivalence.  He's the child to be concerned about this season since he's anxious about meeting some people on an upcoming trip.  She also shared some other impressions she was getting about him.  Well, some readers know that we have a young man we consider our pseudo son and have for many years.  When I last talked to him, he confided he's going to meet his first serious significant other's family when they come to California for a Nebraska football game.  This is a big milestone for the relationship.  Sabrina emphasized it was important to simply 'be himself' while meeting these new people, and to not be anxious because they will like him.  She also suggested he needs to progress slowly into this important new relationship.  (This is something he is already doing, and he has used the exact same words as she did.)

Moving onto the final portion of the reading:  About My Marriage - less amazing than the middle portion, but also revealing about what she 'picked up' on.  She sees an upcoming trip in this season.  She suggested February as the earliest we should take it.  We should be working on strengthening our personal bonds with one another because she sees some type of crisis - not necessarily in this season, but further into the future.  Well, we ARE taking a trip, and I do think there's an upcoming crisis which I'm not ready to share. 

Before we began, she asked me to think of a specific question I would like answered. I said,  "Since we've just moved to this area, do you think we will be happy here?"  She turned over cards, hesitated, and said, "For about 10 years."  Drake and I have said all along, this Fredericksburg house was our '10 year house', so while her answer was spot on, I wish she'd said for a longer time.  

Finally, she told me how 'easy' it was to get a reading from me since I was spiritually 'open'.  We all know that's not a big surprise since I'm fascinated and always interested in new experiences.  What did surprise me is she told me not to return to her before six months or more have passed.  My suspicious jaded self expected the 'hard sell' along the lines of "You need to see me every month."  That didn't happen.  

It was interesting she had a supplementary deck of cards which she said have been used and improved by her family since her grandmother's time.  She would turn over a card in this supplementary deck - same type of pictures on the supplementary cards - to expand on the formal Tarot card.

I left feeling refreshed.  I was amazed she knew about my children.  She didn't offer advice about specific events, other than in pretty general terms.  She was adamant Drake and I should not taking a big trip until after February.  (We are, in fact planning a big trip.)  I do think she's very good at reading people.  Mostly, I left with a confirmation of some of the feelings I've been having, and I considered my psychic reading a very positive experience.          

Drake Claims He's Married to a New Person

 

A bad selfie on the way to the eye doctor.....
No glasses!

Have you ever missed something?  I'm not talking about things lost in the jungle of your closet or the frustration of rifling through your junk drawer, or in my case peering into any number of lidded pots I use to conceal my 'clutter' I can't let go of.  [I actually have a small jacks ball with a tiny playing card suspended inside it.  Have no clue where it came from, but I'm not throwing it away.]   Nor am I talking about those certain foods you're avoiding.  

No, I'm talking about missing my nearsightedness.  I just had cataract surgery on both my eyes five days apart.  The reason the surgeries were so close together is we sprang for the all the bells and whistles lens'.  These new lens look like vinyl records with each groove being a level of vision.  It's going to take awhile for my brain to learn how to use these, and how to use them together. Currently, less than five days out from my second eye, I can see from about six inches from my face to infinity.  If that's not enough, my vision is supposed to improve over the next 30 days.  [As I'm typing this, my vision is moving between sharp and faintly blurred.]  My brain is in training.  It's learning not only how to use both eyes together but also to switch between the various vision levels.  

Ten feet and beyond has snapped in pretty quickly.  I can see with sharp vision in and around any room.  Out in the real world, I think of my vision as being to infinity and beyond!  I can easily see clearly at a distance, but my brain is sluggish at moving between a driving distance back to the street signs.  

OK, so that's physically what's happening.  So, the question is why would I miss being nearsighted?  I've been nearsighted since I was about seven years old.  At age 8, the teacher called my mother and suggested I couldn't really see the blackboard.  This was very typical in the 1950's especially in families where no one else wore glasses.  I saw the ophthalmologist about every six or eight months for the next seven years. I got more and more nearsighted, and my glasses got thicker and thicker.  At night, I watched the items disappear from my dresser, the doorknobs disappear from the doors, and even the covers at the end of the bed get fuzzy. 

At first, I was scared by what was happening.  Gradually, I relaxed, and began to realize since I couldn't see anything, I wasn't distracted by objects in the room.  I started living inside my head when I was very young.  There's a softness and relaxation level in the nearsighted world which is hard to explain to the 20/20 visionaries.  

When you wake up in the nearsighted world, you can just relax.  If you have to think about the upcoming day, no problem.  You can't see the clothes that need to be picked up; the shoes that need to be put away; or the rest of the clutter in the room.  If you're not pushed to get up to start the day, being nearsighted is REALLY relaxing.  You just lay back, and drift.  Sometimes, I even fall back asleep.  In the morning, that's never a problem for me.  

Another benefit of nearsightedness is you can't see dirt!  This can be very comforting in the shower or the tub especially if those fixtures don't belong to you.  I know, gross.  It's always easier to hit any bathroom while being nearsighted.  However, you never want to clean nearsighted -  you'll miss half the dirt.  

Finally, another benefit of being nearsighted is your close up vision is terrific.  If the rest of the world could be within six inches then all would be copacetic.  Since the cataract surgeries, I've lost that crystal clear close up vision. I've already realized I'll need 'cheaters' to thread needles, rip out stitches, see my face close up in a mirror, or do anything else right under my nose.  I can no longer see my armpits.  Not a great loss, but definitely a change since I now have to shave blind.

Naturally, by this time, you've realized I'm gently pulling your leg.  This really has been a massive adjustment.  I wake up and I'm startled when the room snaps into crystal clear focus.  I get up and reach for my glasses.  If I haven't automatically reached for them, I vaguely wander around my room and bathroom looking for 'something' until I realize it's my glasses my subconscious wants me to find.  At least once or twice a day I try to take off my non-existent glasses.  As compensation for losing my nearsightedness, I was able to buy a pair of sunglasses which don't look like some weird virtual reality headset.  

Prior to these surgeries I was having major anxiety.  The anxiety was swirling around my life, and kept being more and more directed to the cataract surgeries.  I finally figured out the 'trigger'.  I'd heard more than once cataract surgery was 'simple' and would be no problem.  The last time I had a simple surgery which would be no problem, I lost the ability to walk for about two years.  Once I figured this out AND had a consultation with my spiritual advisor, I calmed down enough to have the surgeries without complications.  

Now, I've further figured out that this has not been just a 'simple surgery' for me.  I never, ever expected the results I'm getting.  This has upended my world.  Sounds crazy?  Yep.  Try to imagine the way you interact with the world completely changes.  I really don't remember a time when I didn't wear glasses.  (Caveat:  I tried at 16 and 24 to wear contacts.  Both short lived and failures.)  When you frame the cataract surgeries in this lens, you can see why part of me misses being nearsighted. 

Now, those are some cute sunglasses!!!

 

Anxiety Ridden

I am currently anxiety ridden.  This is not a normal state for me.  I'm usually the glass half full, silver lining, lemons to lemonade woman.  I've been thinking about anxiety which I've been able to partially detach myself from thanks to my talk with my spiritual advisor.  (No, it's not some old, dead Native American - the SA in 'Darma & Greg'.)  Anywho,  one of her nuggets was to help me realize I'm not alone.

The nutshell for my anxiety is my upcoming cataract surgeries.  (9/27 & 10/1)  Everyone keeps telling me what a 'simple' surgery this is, and it's a piece of cake.  Well......  The last 'simple' surgery I had resulted in my losing the ability to walk for about two years.  Not fun, not fun at all.  And, it was just a 'simple' bunion surgery.  

My rational mind is saying, 'OK, all will be fine.'  The more important question is why am I dwelling on the worst case scenario and generating all this anxiety?  Here's what my SA had to say:  The anxiety probably has less to do with the cataract surgeries and more to do with all the upheavals and changes we've experienced since October 1, 2023.  

List Time:  1) Clean out AZ house; 2) Divide 'stuff' into sell, store, stage; 3) Cruise over Thanksgiving; 4) Movers pick up the 'store' stuff; 5) Xmas in NYC; 6) List staged house; 7) First people to see it buy it!!!!! 8) Pack & move within 30 days; 9) Plan cross country trip; 10) Buy new house; 11) Remodel new house; 12) Get sick/diagnosed with adult onset asthma; 13) Move into new house during remodel to save $$; 14) Movers arrive with only 2/3rds of our stuff! 15) Unpack; 16) Movers finally arrive with other 1/3rd of our stuff; 17) Unpack.   18) Find Ophthalmologist; 19) Find Primary Care Dr. 20) Mammogram; 21) Blood Work (bad news - Dr. wants me on Statins.) 22) Find gym. 23) Make summer clothes for Fiona.  24) Look for bridge games 25)  Make new friends.

Oh, and that's the condensed list.  I realize my SA is RIGHT.  She also said that I work all the time.  Hmmmm.   I do recognize that I'm constantly busy doing SOMETHING.  i read every day - I usually finish two to four books every week.  Thanks to a good friend, I now have magazines to read.  I also sew every week making stuff - including granddaughter clothes; doll clothes; clothes for me, and a tunic/apron thing for a friend who broke her dominate arm.  I also meal plan every week, have groceries delivered, shop for what the @#$$%&^ store didn't deliver, and cook at least five meals a week.  (I'm trying to keep Drake alive.)  We also play bridge twice a week.  Plus we exercise at Planet Fitness five to six days a week (REALLY!)  We are coming out of a baseball season, so I've listened or watched baseball almost every day of the last 156 days.  I write at least 12 people every week, and I'm writing a friend undergoing chemo every day.  Plus, there's this blog which sometimes seems like an albatross around my neck,  but I just can't seem to give it up.  Notice, there's no home maintenance, cleaning or laundry or car stuff in this paragraph - Drake does all that.  

Back to this anxiety thing.  Looking at these lists, I get why some people would see me as overcommitted.  However, I really think I'm more anxious about settling back into the 'community' life.  During all our vagabonding time and our nannying time, each day was different.  I loved the vagabonding because there was so much 'new' everyday.  Just flip back through these blogs if you don't believe me.  I loved the nannying because I got to live close to my daughter for the first time in 15 years, and I was able to make a big contribution to her life and build a unique relationship with the first grandchild.  

I am concerned (a nice word for anxiety) about being in a fixed community.  I must say, though, this one has been extremely welcoming.  We live in a cul-de-sac, and all the neighbors have been incredibly nice - even helping us with yardwork!  They are all getting the picture that I 'live outloud' and Drake doesn't.  I'm trying to tamp down my profane mouth, but we all know that only works about 85% of the time.  So far, so good.

One thing I've learned is that by acknowledging your fears, sadness, and anxieties by TELLING ON YOURSELF,  and in my case, calling my SA for advice and writing about it helps ease things.  All that stuff seems to deflate when you share it.  

Finally, it always pays big dividends to count blessings:  Great husband; fabulous daughter/son-in-law & pseudo son; happy, healthy grandkids; wonderful extended family.  Celebrating another birthday.  Still getting out of bed every day & mostly able to do lots of stuff (see above list).  Oh, and a great Spiritual Advisor.  Thanks, M.  I'm kicking this anxiety shit to the curb.  

Election Day is Coming

 Voter suppression is when you proactively try to keep people who don't agree with your political or social views from voting.  Voter suppression was used for 100 years after the Civil War to keep former African slaves from voting, and it was so successful, the black population in the south were kept in virtual slavery for 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The suppression took the form of both violent and non-violent strategies.  The violent strategies:  Beatings and lynchings.  The non-violent methods included a poll tax an individual had to pay in order to vote.  This disenfranchised both poor blacks AND poor whites who could not afford the tax.  Another favorite non-violent strategy would to require the person trying to vote take a 'test' to prove his/her literacy and knowledge of history.  No one passed if their skin was the wrong color.  

Fast forward to the 21st century.  Voter suppression is back!  State legislatures around the country are making it more and more difficult to vote.  First, voting by mail is much more restricted.  If you are planning on requesting a ballot by mail, request early and make sure you know what the 'rules' are in order to get and return a ballot.  Second, call the Voter Registration office in your county and double check that you are registered to vote.  In Texas, for instance, the Governor is crowing he's removed 1 million people from the voter registration roles.  Who was removed?  First, some dead people, but second, PEOPLE WHOSE VOTER REGISTRATION ADDRESS DOESN'T MATCH THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE ADDRESS.  All those people are no longer registered to vote.  Whether you live in Texas or not, you could be one of these people if your state has been winnowing down the voter registration records.  

Here's something that happened to Drake and me.  We went to get a Virginia Driver's License, and we signed an additional document attesting that we were eligible to vote and wanted to register.  The procedure is the Virginia Dept of Transportation (where you go to get a Driver's License among other things) forwards your info to the County Voter Registration Office, and we assumed we were registered to vote and could use our Driver's License to vote.  We trotted up to vote in the Primary Election in our local high school - our polling place with our new drivers' licenses.  Well, lo and behold, we discovered we needed an actual Voter Card to prove our voter registration.  Fortunately, the guy supervising the poll workers let us vote provisionally, and got our info sent immediately to the Voter Registration Office.  It took TWO MONTHS to get the voter cards.  

Another form of suppression taking place over the country is you may need special forms of identification along with your Voter Card in order to vote.  It could be a passport, or the federal identification card (the driver's license that allows you to fly on an airplane).  Know not only where you vote, but also what documentation you need to have with you in order to vote. 

The time honored way to suppress the vote is by gerrymandering the voting districts.  Gerrymandering is drawing voting districts in a tortured way to favor one political party.  This practice goes all the way back to Eldridge Gerry, the Governor of Massachusetts in the early 1800's.  He drew a new twisting district with boundaries which looked like a salamander and the new district boundaries favored his political party.  Gerry + salamander is the origin of the word gerrymandering.  Republican and Democratic state legislatures have brought back this practice in our heated political climate.  This is a disservice to ALL the voters,  Redrawing districts has become a new hobby of state legislatures.  

Finally, after the votes are counted, a county clerk or other appointed official 'certifies the votes'.  Certification means the votes have been counted and are ready to be added to the tally of all the votes.  Certification is usually required within a certain time limit, so the votes can be counted expediently.  Certification has been a requirement not a matter of discretion.  New rules, especially in Georgia, is making certification a matter of discretion by the certification official.  Basically, if you live in a place where certification is at the whim of some politically motivated bureaucrat, your vote may not be counted in a timely manner, or not at all if the votes are held up to favor one political view.

The days of assuming you can vote are at an end.  Don't get caught being unable to vote.  Call the voter registration office, or go on-line and learn what the rules are which allow you to vote.  Voting is a right.  Voting is also a duty.  It's the biggest duty you have as a citizen.  If you choose not to vote, then I'm not interested in your opinions because you forfeited the right to express them.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO VOTE.  This year voting for President of the United States seems very important, and it is, but in reality the people you vote for on the City Council, for County Commissioner, for the School Board, and the other 'low level' people in public service are actually more crucial to your quality of life.

ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 5TH - LET'S GET OUT THE VOTE.

Did You Know You Don't Get to Vote for President of the USA?

 I've been arguing with a friend about that scintillating subject of the Electoral College.  Here's your history lesson for the day.  The Electoral College is part of the Constitution,  The original purpose was to make sure that 'qualified voters' were the ones selecting the President and Vice President.   Remember in 1787 very few people could actually vote.  As a rule of thumb you had to be white, male and own a certain amount of property to vote.  

Even white males didn't have universal suffrage until 1848.  Former male slaves were given the vote after 1865, with those votes effectively taken away in the South after the end of Reconstruction in 1877 with the passage poll tax laws, physical intimidation, and other tricks to keep blacks from voting.  Women weren't given the right to vote until 1920 after a long and arduous campaign lasting decades.  

Whoever wins the popular vote for President in a state selects the Electors for that state.  However, qualifications for Electors is set by each state.  There is one elector for each member of the House of Representatives and one for each Senator.  (Additionally, the District of Columbia has three Electors.)  Most states have 'winner takes all Electors' except for Nebraska and Maine who can split their Electors but usually don't.  Currently, there are 538 electors.  It takes the vote of 270 Electors to win the Presidency/Vice Presidency.  The Congress chaired by the Vice President certifies the election on January 6th.  

Those are the facts.  Here is the reality:   States from the very beginning could decide who gets to vote - that's in the Constitution.  In the late 1700's and early 1800's some states removed the property ownership requirement; some let black men with property vote; one let widowed women vote.  A few states even had universal male suffrage way in advance of 1848.  The two party system was less entrenched than it is now.  Electors were a way of establishing the two party system.  

Practically speaking, the infrastructure of the United States for 100 years was woefully lacking especially prior to the advent of railroads.  There were very few passable roads.  The majority of travel was by water using rivers.  (It's no accident that settlements occur at crossings of rivers.)  It took a long time for information about the election of the President/Vice President to be disseminated and to know who won.

Therefore, a small group of people (the Electors) from each state are dispatched to Washington D.C. and the Electors report their votes (not the popular vote) to Congress, and the outcome of the election is certified on January 6th.  The insurrection and take over of the Capital on January 6, 2021, was all about trying to disrupt the certification of the election

So, it's voting in November, travel to Washington, Electors counted, election outcome certified January 6th, and the winner of the election was then sent via the Electors back to each state so everyone would know who actually got elected.  It's no wonder that the inauguration of the new President wasn't until March.  As the country continued to push Westward, it could take months for everyone in the country to know the outcome of the Presidential election.   (The inauguration of the new President wasn't moved to January 20th until 1937 when the miracle of radio made the dissemination of the vote a matter of a few days.) 

My argument is it's time to dump the Electoral College.  It's now possible to win the popular vote by millions of votes and still lose the election based on the Electors still deciding who will be President.  (Hillary Clinton got 2.9 million more votes than Donald Trump, and she lost the election.)  How is that possible?  In simple terms, large blocks of Democratic and Republican voters and their Electors cancel one another out and suddenly the election is being decided by a handful of states.   The media has designated these states as the 'battleground states' and how they vote is how the election is decided based on their Electors.  It doesn't matter if you win or lose the popular vote.  The Electoral College is distorting one person/one vote.  We can know the outcome of the election almost instantly.  In the 21st century we don't have to wait for  the Electors to tell us.  

Here's the rub:  It takes a ratification of 2/3rds of the States to approve an Amendment to the Constitution.  It took decades for everyone to be able to walk up to a polling place and vote in the United States.  The outmoded Electoral College is taking away your vote!  It's time to amend the Constitution and have the President elected by the popular vote of the people.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.