Saturday, November 5, 2022

Cameras and a Hike

Most of the leaves were down in the woods, where we took our hike.

I had Wednesday off, so after some chores around the house, Ward and I decided we needed to get out and enjoy the unusually warm November weather we were having. So we set off to find the other end of a trail we had been on a few months ago. 

The trail ended at a rec center, so we went there looking for the trailhead. As it turns out, the rec center was an early voting location and was quite busy. In fact, the parking lot was almost full. Signs were everywhere, with tables of literature and people trying to help you decide whom you should be voting for. When we drove up, we also noticed a TV camera and thought the local news was probably doing a human interest story about early voting. On our way into the rec center, where we hoped we could find out more about the trail, another person was set up with a camera. She asked us if we'd like to answer some questions about early voting and the issues that were important to us. I asked who she was with, and she named something that I didn't quite get, except it had Washington in the title. (BTW, our local news channels come from Washington, DC.) I said maybe on the way out.

All of the election frenzies were starting to get to me, so we went out another door, and lo and behold, there was another person with a camera. However, she wasn't so general with her questions because all she said was, "Do you want to save democracy?" Well, that told us that this was not a neutral newsgroup but a group with an agenda. Whether or not I agreed with their agenda, I was irate with the way they were trying to manipulate the situation while trying to appear neutral. 

We got out of the fray and into the fields looking for the trailhead. While we were looking around, it was good to see that parts of Theo's butterfly garden he built there as part of his Eagle Scout project, were still thriving. 

Anyway, we ended up getting in the car and driving to another spot where we found what we were looking for. We had a lovely hike while crunching dried leaves and taking in that wonderful smell of fall. It was a nice change from the chaos we had seen earlier, and we were able to connect to the other part of the trail that we had been on earlier. Mission accomplished.

Until next time...

(And speaking of the elections, if half of what the candidates are saying about each other is true, there's no one fit to be in office.)