Funny, I’ve been so accustomed to the extended Daylight Savings Time that October slipped right by without my missing the early nightfall of autumns past. Even though the days have slowly grown shorter and it’s been discouragingly dark when I get up at 6:30 in the morning, it never seemed strange that we had not yet moved our clocks back.
Wouldn’t it be some small justice if the only good thing for which the Bush administration is remembered, is his decision to extend Daylight Savings Time? I still believe one of the few positive lasting achievements of the Reagan years was his first step at extending DST back in the eighties. Although Bush’s decision has given us more daylight hours in which to contemplate his dangerous brand of idiocy, the fact is it’s helpful: we turn on the lights later in the evening for those extra weeks, saving electricity.
With November here at last – and election day a mere three and a half days away – I am so excited to vote, wish my daughter was just one year older so she could vote too, and am jonesing for Change with a capital C. If only I could persuade my diehard Republican father (that’s you, Dad!) to do his grandchildren a favor and vote for Obama, I’d feel that I had accomplished a major good deed this year. He maintains cynically that “All politicians are the same,” and that therefore he might as well vote for McCain. I disagree. I believe that Obama is different, and different in the best possible ways. The last several weeks he has had to temper his message in order to appeal to the broadest possible number of voters, but once he is in office, I am convinced he will be one of the greatest presidents in our country’s history.
On the knitting front, I’ve submitted secret pattern designs to a couple of different publications and must now wait to hear back from them. Meanwhile, with a college visits trip looming, I’m trying to narrow down the projects I’ll bring with me for the long cross-country plane rides. I’ve given almost no thought to what I’ll pack to wear (other than comfortable shoes, that is), because, well, with the holidays fast approaching, the knitting just seems so much more important. I’ve been narrowing down my choices for what to make for whom, and have come up with some luscious options that I’m excited to start.
It has been pouring rain since last night, and we desperately need every drop. Earlier in the week however, the garden was looking good. Still surprising me with blooms in both front and back, as you can see.
I had no idea when I planted them that the blueberry bushes would turn red in the fall. As a transplanted east-coaster who misses colorful autumn foliage almost more than anything else about life back there, this was a welcome surprise.
And the dahlias just keep on pumping out the flowers. This specimen looks particularly autumnal, don’t you think?
Comments welcome