voted

Visiting with my neighbor's huge pumpkin yesterday.

A carpet of leaves upon the woodland way into downtown Northampton.

Who made this and why? It reminds me of something from The Blair Witch Project. Is there a local coven performing late night rituals along the woodland way?

Soon I arrived downtown, where I found Sid the Shop Therapy mouse catcher posing by a Deadhead Cat Under Stars sticker.

Actually, the sticker by which Sid is posing is a recent variation called "Kitty Under the Stars" for mostly female Deadheads who like to keep it cute.

Then I headed over to City Hall.

Soon I had my sacred ballot and pen before me. Notice how absurdly long the explanation on the right is for Question No. 1. Just boil it down to a single phrase like, "Proposal to force hospitals to hire more nurses, whether they need them or not," or maybe, "Proposal to increase the cost of healthcare in order to pad the membership dues of the nurse's unions." Ya know, something simple and to the point.

As much as possible, I voted a straight Republican ticket, straying only once to vote for Libertarian Party candidate Dan Fishman for State Auditor. I voted NO on every one of the ballot questions. Alas, some crusading leftists had no opposition, so rather than vote for them I left the space blank, except for Lindsay Sabadosa, where I wrote in the name of the late John Andrulus. If you haven't voted yet, I urge you to do so and to do it the Springfield way - early and often.

Arriving at UMass, it was yet another wet dreary day on campus. I can't recall a Fall that's been more rainy.