We were going to move on Monday, the first, but the weather forecast was all rain, to the tune of 1″, so we decided to stay put and move on election day. In our lovely wooded campsite we just opened all the blinds and watched it pour. I took advantage of the day, carpe diem, and scanned 35mm slides all day. This is a slow process that takes me down memory lane. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I’m scanning that I get a bit emotional. Oh to be young again!
While scanning, because it takes 2 minutes per slide, I decided to watch movies. It was a 5 movie day!!!…including Moulin Rouge which I hadn’t seen in a long time. I got a lot done, scanning slides through 3 babies and watching us all change!
Then on Election Day we moved to Illinois Beach State Park. Ooops….our old site was closed so we scoped out a good site in the wooded area. Sites are set up with hookups to be on the driver’s side so usually you back in. But we decided on a paradigm (old consultant BS word) shift and pulled in forwards so that we have a view of the woods and slough area. We’ve seen a family of mule deer “playing”, crows and squirrels fighting over food, and a flock of red cardinals hopping around picking up seeds.
Our poor old man neighbor, Lenny, tells us there are 50 pound raccoons who will tear apart your dog and camper! Lenny lives in his pop-up….don’t know why…but he was here the last time we stayed here. His camper is falling apart. The roof is propped up, the screens have plywood across them. It’s 40 degrees here and I can’t imagine how cold it must be. He says he has to move south because he can’t afford the prices here anymore. The couple across the street have been fulltiming for 15 years. They have a nice setup and are friends with Lenny. I think the wife is handicapped. A little motorhome is not a bad place to be when you can’t get around too well. Everything is close at hand.
So we watched the election returns here in the park, staying up too late and getting up too early to see how it all turned out. I thank the gods who watch over us that GW was elected and that we got through the election without incident. And happily, our votes helped defeat Tom Daschle. Yesterday we watched history being made as Kerry conceded (it was a gracious and right thing to do) and Bush accepted the vote and thanked those who helped him. I felt that, as he stood listening to the applause, he was overwhelmed by the support given to him.
Today…well who knows. Carpe Diem!
