It has been a season of:

• volunteering the odd hour at Babbo's public elementary school. I have learned heaps by doing this and have learned to like, really like, children.
• ripping through novels: Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Groet, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, Hundred Years of Solitude, and now David Grossman's beautiful and exasperating To the End of Land. It took me 40 years to learn to love fiction. Better late than never. Huzzah!
• lowering A1c (blood sugar) levels for Babbo. We got a 7.0 - the best yet.
• learning to fight with Matty. After nearly 19 years, we are learning that it's not too late to learn to fight. We will survive these odd, new bumps, and we will keep my bad temper in check. We have to at least try.
• drinking whisky is still best with friends around the kitchen table. Got our resupply of single origin Michel Cluizel dark chocolate chips to go with.

The November 2 Elections

Tuesday's election has me nervous. On the superficial level, I will say this: there are some very angry, angry people who don't seem to find education, healthcare, equal protection for citizens who happen to be of a different color, sexual orientation, or religion as priorities.

At least locally, Measure C, a ballot measures which at least nominally seeks to protect a citizen's right to have up to four hens, has gotten folks into the practice of healthy discussion.