Delightful

 Good morning.

 

Well, whatever you may think about any other topic, I think you have to agree that the weather this fall in South Central Kansas…so far…has just been delightful.  Now, I don’t use that word “delightful” very often to describe something, because I am normally (A) not thinking in that direction and (B) that adjective seems to me to be indicative of flowers, rainbows, and unicorns, and I am none of that myself.  However, in this case, I think that word perfectly describes the days and especially the evenings out on our back patio watching the daylight gradually disappear and another night fall upon the creation as the day critters seek shelter and the night critters begin to stir.

I know that eventually, the bitter cold winds will blow and we may well get measurable snowfall as well as ice accumulation at some point this winter.  But right now it just seems to be the perfect combination of cool, damp, and calm.  Enjoy this…I’ll say it again…”delightful” time while it’s here.

It’s now been over a week since the elections.  I’ve found in these last few days that even though I wasn’t aware of it at the time before election day, my emotional health was being affected by the process.  I found myself generally more at peace and relaxed following election day.  I have to wonder if the politics of the election had an effect on me, even though I made a conscious effort to NOT watch all the ads…NOT engage in political back and forth on social media…and NOT argue, fuss, or even engage with others in the process in any way.  In other words, I attempted to be as apolitical as I could be and yet I believe I was affected in some way by what was going on.

Yes, I voted.  Yes, I have my opinions.  Yes, I am active civically.  Yes, the wife and I did engage in conversation and strategy on how to survive the election process.  But our goal was to not let all of the negativity, mud-slinging and fear mongering dump us off the rails and into the morass of political junk-ism.

I think we were mostly successful at doing that.  But it was somewhat unsettling to me that I apparently allowed it all to affect me more than I at first thought.  And now that 2028 is already on the horizon, I’ll have to re-think my strategy for remaining above the bottomless pit of slinging half-truths & slick accusations around and intentionally producing fear into the electorate by the PAC ads and the candidates themselves.

As for local politics, I am still actively involved in some ways.  I’m having lunch with my state representative next week.  I am connected to several in local government including my city councilman, my county commissioner, and others.  I express my opinions on various local and state issues, hopefully in a respectful and dignified manner.  These relationships are of much help in reducing or eliminating the political stress regarding local and state issues, even if the decision doesn’t necessarily go my way.

Regardless of your political persuasion, whether or not your candidate won, the power of the ballot is alive and well.  It is for us as a people to respect and affirm the outcome, stand with those who were elected to represent us, pray for our nation & for those leading it, and whether we are people of faith or not, love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

 

Blessings,