Election Day in Texas

(To the tune of "When It's Roundup Time In Texas")

It's Election Day in Texas

And the sun is shining bright.

Not a cool north wind a blowing,

Nor the sky high cost of gas,

Gonna stop us all from voting

Spin that little wheel on the stand,

Just to think of all

Who've made us free and all

Drinkin' coffee while we can.

You can hear the candidates calling,

Beggin' for every vote they can.

Hear the boring ads

All through the whole day long,

And the pundits everywhere.

They're a flying, flapping, yapping,

with their planes and SUVs,

Flitting place to place

Spending lots of cash,

Wanting votes from you an' me.

Hear the anchors just a wailin',

Hopin' for a scoop each day.

Watch them trying to be there

With their pretty suits,

And the big ole satellite trucks.

Just a readin', watchin', thinkin',

Whose the best to vote for.

To keep our country safe,

To stay free always,

To preserve our sacred ways,

So we can all be healthy, happy,

Smart and secure,

When it's voting day in Texas.

Who to vote for? That is the question.

With apologies to Shakespere!

Boy, has it been busy and exciting around here. I'm just in awe about the people who have been and who are here because of the election.

I'm a news junkie. I guess that's because of my time writing for newspapers and teaching journalism. My daughter said that I just learned to be nosey in my home town. Everyone turned out for everything, appearances, programs, church, wrecks, fires, trials, meetings-you name it-night or day. I still want to be there for everything. And I don't like to vote for anyone who I haven't at least had the opportunity to see in person.

Well, I got to see John McCain when he was here last spring. Didn't agree with him on many things except the war. He is someone to be admired, though.

Mitt Romney came, but it was a closed event. I wasn't invited, so that ruled him out as someone to vote for.

Mike Huckabee was here, but I couldn't get over there. That ruled him out. Besides, I only think of him as wanting everyone to lose weight, just because he did.

Personally, I think that we haven't seen the candidate that this country really needs.

Sunday afternoon, I took my grandson over to campus to hear the Texas Aggie symphony and concert bands at Rudder Tower. Being the news junkie that I am, we had to, first, go by the MSC to see the Fox News crew, with Shep Smith as anchor, broadcasting from the Flag Room. I couldn't see anything because of the big tv lights! But, I am still thrilled that I got to be in the same room with Shep! I really enjoy Shep and Greta Van Susteran reporting on Fox. Wish I could have met him.

We went on to the concert, came back to see if Shep might still be around. The lights were still on, but the crew was gone. So, we went through one of the several art galleries in the MSC. I had been wanting to see the exhibit of art by actor Anthony Quinn, along with some of his collection of art. Just outstanding!

I told my grandson, "I want to do that!", looking at three large paintings at the entrance.

Of course, after sitting through a band concert, my grandson was tired and wiggly and wanting to go home.

When we got home, I was so surprised that Shep was broadcasting again on Fox News! I thought he had left for the day.

He was back there yesterday for his program, and will have a special election party in the Flag Room later this afternoon. Did my heart good yesterday to hear the Aggie yell leaders, leading some traditional yells with some of the students, and to hear the group doing "The Aggie War Hymn" with "Saw Varsity's Horns Off" ! They needed that great Texas Aggie Band, too. Hope that Shep and crew got to see a lot of Aggieland and its great traditions while they are here.

Also, Sunday, we heard that Bill Clinton was going to be in town for an appearance at Reed Arena. But, no one, including the local tv station, knew if it was by invitation only. So, we ruled that out and decided to go on to the band concert as planned. (Turned out that it was open. I learned that people knew about it from phone calls and Hillary's website.)

Would have been nice for my grandson to be able to say that he saw the former president. I'm not supporting her, but I just like to see and hear everyone that I possibly can.

But, we did get close! As we drove past the airport to campus, Clinton's plane flew over us-really low! I don't think that I can count that as seeing him, though!

I used to support Hillary, as a woman. And she became more human when she and Chelsey had makeovers with a Mary Kay consultant while she was in the White House. I am keenly aware that everyone needs to be able to have healthcare, (It's just criminal to deny healthcare to anyone because of lack of money or adequate insurance, to my way of thingking) so I was listening to that. But, her bad remarks against the president, wanting to bring troops home immediately, and learning that everyone is going to have to buy healthcare, and her "listening to the squeaky wheels" instead of doing what this country needs, just turned me off.

Obama makes nice speeches, but I think he is all wrong for this country. No real plans that could be carried out, too inexperienced, and I don't trust him at all.

So, it looks like I may have to do the old coin toss to make up my mind when I get to the voting place. I've been leaning toward McCain. If our country is not strong and secure, then all our other issues are not going to matter much. But, then, I'm thinking that Hillary needs our support in order to beat Obama. At one point, I thought that it's just too much! Maybe I'll just stay at home and send the rest of the family to vote! Can't do that, though. This is too important.

In times past, back home, when I was growing up, men walked up and down the street, met at the Post Office, in cafes, the grocery stores, etc., talking about who to vote for. Grandpa would sort of "hold court" around the stove and the chairs at the dry goods store, and men would talk about the issues. He would also get Daddy, and his brother, together, to talk about who they were going to support.

They were all involved.

The ladies, however, never talked about politics or issues, that I remember. They were busy with cleaning, cooking, entertaining and such. Some were not allowed to vote, despite the fact that they got the vote, because of the poll tax. If the men didn't want the women to vote, they just refused to pay the poll tax for the ladies. Most of the men controlled the purse strings, and everything else. Some men thought that women were "too stupid to know how to vote right." They wanted to be sure that the candidate they supported won and to keep the women out of it all. Sometimes it was really hard to get hold of that $1.50 or $2.00.

Anyone doing "the Texas Two Step"? That's getting a lot of news coverage.

Today, I hope that we all vote "right", whatever that may be.

This isn't meant to be any kind of endorsement, or anything like that. Just my observations and experiences on this important day.

Vision-The News

The News

4.25" x 6"

watercolors

I watch the news a lot. Not just for the information or to know what is going on. But, I have been known to take notes, just to see if I can keep up with getting the important things down, keeping in practice. And to think about how I would write up what I am watching as a news story. Thinking back to the times when I worked for a small newspaper, and also wrote for a couple of other small newspapers and was a stringer for a couple of larger dailies.

I got my training through experience. It was very interesting, but a bit nerve wracking. I wanted to be sure that I didn't have any mistakes and that everything was as perfect as possible.

When I first started writng a column of local news, my old high school English teacher told me that she was so proud of what I was doing! She told me that she read my articles with a red grading pen and circled any mistakes. She said she couldn't find many.

I thought, "She should have seen what I turned in!" A lot of Xs on each page. The editor told me to not worry about taking time to make it neat, just X out any errors, and write in things I needed to add. The editor, typesetter, and all whose hands it passed through, would make corrections as they worked.

I did give credit for the lack of mistakes to the editor, but she was convinced that I did it all myself.

This, of course, was in the days before computers.

In the painting above, I was watching some of the caucus coverage on Fox News. Greta Van Susteran and Shep Smith were the anchors for a special last week. I closed my bad eye to watch. And, just to check my bad eye, I closed the good eye and watched for a few minutes. I did a little sketch of Greta. I was struck that, in the middle of the purple circle that I see, I could still make out her black blazer, which formed a point at the bottom of the screen. Her white blouse stood out somewhat as did parts of her blonde hair. Her face had a bit of orange across her forehead, but the rest of her face was shadowed a bit. Around the purple circle, there was a dark, mossy green circle.

As usual, I could see the edge of the tv set, the wall, part of the cabinet that the set is on, and the pictures above the tv set, but not her face, when I looked at it.

I can make out that there is something there, and know that there is a head, a face, several heads, and a bit of the things in the center of what I am looking at, but there is that dark circle that covers most of it, when I look through the eye with Macular Degeneration.

I've read that one thing that people with Macular Degeneration really have a problem with is not being able to see faces and to be able to recognize people. I've read that some people can't see the faces of their children, grandchildren, friends, or even people that they meet.

So far, I'm lucky in that one eye is affected, and the other is just blurry from cataracts. But I can still see faces if I am close enough and if I use the good eye. I just hope that this doesn't happen to the other eye. I guess that, since this dark spot is here all the time, I have lost the center vision in that eye.

On Gretawire, Greta's blog, there was a discussion a few weeks ago about Macular Degeneration. I know that she has a bit of an interest in the subject. The discussion is probably still there in the archives.

Maybe I should send her portrait, as she looks to someone with AMD, to her. She is a good sport so I don't think she would be upset by it.

Meanwhile, back to the news!

I have some more information on AMD and "My Vision Test", to share with you. Click on the link in my sidebar under Eye Sites if you would like to see the test. It might help for you to know more about the creator of the test and more information about it. I contacted the man who created the test and will try to share what I learned in my next post.

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Thank you for reading and sharing. Let me know if you see something that appeals to you!