And Now, Politics

My sister lives in New Jersey. (I no longer hold that against her.) Her youngest child is the same age, give or take a week, as my oldest; she has a kid in high school and one in between. Despite our age difference, the physical space between us, and the fact that we only have one child to link our day-to-day experiences, we remain very close. As in, on the phone 4 or 5 times a week close. I love my sisters, both of them, but me and she do the grunt work of living together. We check-in.

She checked-in today. It’s election day, after all, and in our family, casting a vote starts as a right of passage and become as natural – and important – as breathing. In my sister’s district, there were a few piddly seats to be filled, all mostly unchallenged, but there were also a handful of important ballot questions. (Oh, how we love ballot questions!)

She admitted to having researched only two of them beforehand: an open-space initiative (she’s for it) and a stem cell research bill (she’s for that too). The open-space question would preserve undeveloped landscapes in her town. The stem cell bill would allow New Jersey to commit tax payer dollars (and lots of them) to the controversial research (bias coming) that could save countless lives.

She was psyched to fill in those affirmative circles, and since she had time, she figured she would read and digest the other questions and make her decision on the spot.

The third question read (in part) as follows:

"Approval of this amendment concerning the denial of the right to vote would delete the phrase 'idiot or insane person' and replace that phrase with 'person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting' in describing those persons who shall be denied the right to vote."

My sister told me she read it twice, laughing out loud both times behind the curtain. She is normally the kind of bleeding heart liberal my husband has come to distrust. She said, “I usually vote yes down the line.”

But in this instance, the “idiot” instance, my sister voted no. She voted for the word idiot to stay.

She said, “We’re talking about a cure for diabetes or cancer or MS and quibbling about language at the same time? What the fuck? Yeah, keep “idiot”, keep it.”

I reminded her that if I lived in New Jersey, I could technically sue the state to prove that my own husband has “idiotic” political ideas that are sometimes “insane” and that he shouldn’t be allowed to express them with a vote.

She thought for a minute, and said “Cure for cancer, or your idiot husband? No brainer.”

I love my family.

Thursday Poem (Halloween)

It’s coming down the tracks
and I hear the loud howl getting louder,
the same way I hear you
when you finally work up the nerve
to make your own ghostly sound.

It’s coming down the pike
with all the roaring rush coming closer,
the same way you sound
coming home on your own, all candy chatter,
but needing me to pull your tights off
still.

It’s coming.

Someday you won’t hold my hand on the street,
or grab my thigh when the scary music blares,
or ask me if you can have more.
Someday you won’t tell me how very, very sad it is
to pack the costumes away,
or how you wish this night could last forever,
or how you think I am the nicest, most scariest of them all.
Someday you might feel those things,
but you probably won’t tell me.

It's rushing through the trees
and I feel the shaking shift down to my toes.
In the same way I know that
winter is coming afterall,
I know you are changing too:

before my eyes, like magic,
in all your October costumes –

wipe off the make-up and you’re gone.

This One -- For M

Promise to deliver more pith post Halloween, but for now, number 2 (not in order) of the Top Ten Greatest Songs...
M knows how important a good song is, and dammit, so do you.
Vote for your faves below and I'll consider it for the Top Ten.

Sweet Halloween

This is for You

With love.

Beautiful music is the elixir for anything that ails. And this is one of my favorites. So, I guess, this is for you and you and you too.

BURN OUT

I am totally burned the fuck out.

Partly from staying up late two nights in a row (alone) to watch a game I usually care little about. Partly because I am over-volunteered and under-supported with That Man gone now, day 10, or something like that. Partly because one of my closest friends confirmed that my oldest daughter has been bitchy and mean lately. Partly because another friend is suffering and I can’t help. Partly because I spent the evening hours dressed in a lab coat entertaining other people’s children while my own ran around having fun I wasn’t privy too, relying on other moms to hold their hands in Haunted Houses. Partly because I think my best friend from college thinks (because of this blog) that I am a miserable, always cranky wench of a mother.

There are so many parts to the burn out. (But isn’t that always how it goes?)

The good news is I only have one obligation this weekend (a game to coach and I swear, I swear I don’t care if we lose… again) and my mom is coming on Sunday. Also, in the last couple of days, me and the kids have hit a happy stride and That Man and I are talking more than we have in a while; it’s a miracle what the phone, and distance, can do sometimes. And Jury Duty is over. And tomorrow is not a school day and I can hit the snooze button and not feel bad about it.

It’s October in Boston and the Red Sox are winning which means that right now, this is the best place to be. Add Elvis doing Sweet Caroline?

Burn out be damned!

Thursday Poem (Haiku Sox Version # 2)

It is way too late
But I write baseball haiku
To say go Red Sox

Another Thursday Poem (Haiku Sox Style)

Oh my fucking God
I never knew I cared so:
It's only a game!

(For Major Bedhead -- http://thebookishone.blogspot.com/)