Today is the day before the day. I  had a full six hours of sleep, a luxury as things have been going and especially since I had no dreams I could remember.  A mountain of small chores awaits us, everything from going to the dump to buying motion sensors for the outside fixtures.  They now have motion sensors that screw into a socket and then a bulb screws into the motion sensor.  It seems most of the neighborhood is on vacation for at night it is dark, dark, dark here.  The quiet is audible- sounds odd but it's true.  The crickets have begun their evening lamentations, a sound that makes me think of the creaking of the earth on its orbit through the seasons.  The fireflies are gone but other creatures are stirring in anticipation of summer's end.  

Speaking of summer's end- teachers went back to work here yesterday.  Aren't we happy to be retired.  Why so early I was asked?  A simple answer is to give students more time in class before the annual assessments.  It's the remnants of George Bush's No Child Left Behind, an unfunded mandate which has improved education in places where education was already excellent before NCLB.  In retrospect it was a good idea, but unfunded it promoted education in school systems that were already providing a good to excellent free public education. Washington County, Montgomery County, and Hartford County have achieved the goals of NCLB.  

We're looking forward to meeting Canadians, hearing their views, sharing ours, though a traveler to urban Canada will see a different Canada than one who visits the heartland.  It's probably the same as here in the States.

This morning's local paper ran an article about two signs protesters were carrying at the local

town hall. I'm not going to repeat what the signs supposedly said but it is alarming and totally

unacceptable.  In fact the supposed signs were so ignorant, so volatile, and evil, it wouldn't surprise me if the national media doesn't pick up on them.  True, the President didn't win in our county nor in the two other western counties but the sentiments allegedly expressed make me sick and are not representative of the vast majority here.  Those are not my emotions and feelings about Mr. Obama.  But even worse were the ugly things said about his wife and children. I cannot abide by anyone saying such wicked things- in fact I can't even allow the words that are reported to have been on the signs to cross my mind.

We're looking forward to seeing and reading news across the border.  One must wonder what others think about the US-and that is what we must remember: we are the US- everyone of us.  If you pray, pray for US; if you don't, hope that we do not allow our differences to divide us.