Getting Ready for Winter

Mainers are in a flurry of getting ready. An early cold snap and a dusting of snow on the deck a couple of weeks ago escalated the natural rhythm of the season. Firewood got gathered and stacked. Hatches were battened. A frenzy of yard chores, crystallized by the crisp blue sky days of autumn, helped tidy things up for the inevitable frozen yard.  Stocking larders, filling tanks, unpacking and sifting the winter gear consume money and time. Will winter be a series of epic blizzards and winter wonderland or a dark and depressing mix of rain and ice?

Photo from a recent road trip south.
No idea who Tim Good is, but the image on the sign
looks suspiciously like a wine glass, even though it's supposed
to be a guy in a suit. 

Amid the chores, there is a clatter of information about what results this upcoming election will bring. There are theories that Americans,  weary of bombastic and vitriolic rhetoric, will aim for a change in leadership.

There are large sums of money, both Republican and Democratic, invested in campaigns and numbing doses of bashing ads. Maine's second congressional district race, representing a vast swath of counties north of the typically more urban, southern coastal areas, is a prime example of the largest campaign spending of any election in Maine history, funded by dark money.

Georgia's election, in which a (Republican) Secretary of State is running for Governor, is under fire as the state's new "exact match" law created over 50,000 voters with contested applications, 70% of which were African American. This is matched by initiatives in North Dakota, Florida, and Kansas as noted in last week's FreshAir episode.

We can only wait. Then, we will know if we need to invest in a new snow shovel or simply breathe a little easier with the relief from fuel bills.

Alaska's early voting stickers!