I'm voting today. I understand that more than 80 million people have already voted. The line should be a little shorter. I'm excited about the candidates I am supporting and lots of positive news yesterday project that she could win.

And here in my backyard during the first week of November, several of the azaleas are blooming. Quite different from last year when we had our first hard freeze of 28 degrees on November 1, and the forecast today is for 80 degrees. Could be a happy day. I took this photo yesterday, November 4.

I'm hoping for light.

I took this photo several years ago at the Common Ground Faire in Maine. What drew my eye and why I lifted my camera and pressed the shutter button was my attraction to the texture and range of colors of the thread. I realized this week that this photo would look terrific in our dining room above our pottery cabinet because of the colors in our house and to celebrate our daughter's weaving passion. 

I was also looking for a photo to illumine today's Gospel text, Mark 12:28-34. Jesus is asked which commandment is first, and he shares two. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. The first one is challenging, and difficult to measure. The second is real. That annoying person who is not like you. The one with the wrong political sign. Those who don't look like you or talk like you. And the ones who like different music and different books. Oh, those neighbors.

It's the last day of daylight savings time for 2024. When I was growing up as a kid in Indiana, I often heard the coming season referred to as slow time when we turned the clocks back an hour. Most of the clocks in my house will change automatically. But a few battery-operated clocks will require the annual turning back, from fast time to slow time. I wish it was slow time although this week I'd prefer super-fast time to get the details of this election finalized to my satisfaction. And if we could slow time, possibly we could see patterns in events or be able to signal a warning about an upcoming crisis. And then again, maybe it would just be scary, instead of peaceful like flowing water. 

This photo is from New Hampshire with an exposure of .5 second. My camera is on a tripod. This is the Swift River in the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area.

We are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, writes the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. I remember so many dear friends who I would not have known except for the church. I didn't grow up in church and wasn't familiar with All Saints Day. The fundamentalists who have a culture war with Hallowe'en likely miss the significance of the next day. Oh, they like me have been blessed by the compassion and care of countless witnesses. I may complain about stuff about the church, and I am deeply wounded by my denomination's fracture, but I will never forget those I loved, and who demonstrated grace repeatedly, and who were often better in this journey than me.

This photo is from Door County.

Halloween favorite from 10 years ago when Mike, Amy, and Maddy were jelly-fish. The three of them always came up with the most inventive costumes, but this has to be near the top. With Maddy at college, Mike and Amy miss their best reason to dress up for Halloween. I know they had as much fun as Maddy.

It is a small question--is it late summer or early fall? Our dogwood trees have begun to show a change in the color of the leaves but the high temperatures for the week are in the 80s. It looks like fall but it still feels like summer. Forecasters are predicting the warmest Halloween in some time, maybe a record for the day. Definitely in the in-between days.  Not hot enough for air-conditioning nor cold enough to turn on the heat.

Just enjoy the day. 

Election day is just a week away. In 2020, it took 4-5 days before the vote counting was clear enough to declare Biden as president. Even so, chaos ensued for two months with lies and court challenges that were all dismissed before the final attempt on January 6 to attempt a coup. I expect this year will be little different except for a larger display of security on January 6. The fog will continue.

It's a challenge to remain centered in one's spirit with all the discordant noise swirling around. It's difficult to even ignore it. I imagine something different. I write. I read. I review years of photos. I can be centered for moments at a time. Two months is a lot of moments. And there's little fog outside my window. I want even less fog in my soul.