Here we are, more than midway through the month of October in the year we can’t wait till it ends. I’m counting down the days until November 3rd and seeing what shakes out from that, then hopefully to the end of the year. I have tentative travel plans from now through March of 2021 and I’m hoping I get to do them. It’s looking like COVID-19 is back to rearing its ugly head now that people are staying inside more. I’m taking everything day-to-day at this point.

Our numbers up this way aren’t bad. We are still showing a mere 134 cases total and 2 deaths. However, the cases number is up by about 15 since Donald Trump Jr. had a largely mask-free event at a local restaurant. That’s one restaurant to mark off my list, not that I went there that much to begin with. New Hampshire right now has 894 active cases, which is up from between 300-400 on any given day over the summer.

Northern New England has also been plagued by a drought. After two days of considerable rain, I checked my weather station and it shows 4 1/2 inches for the month of October. That’s good, but I read somewhere we were short almost 30 inches for the year. Between the milder than normal winter and almost non-existent rainfall in the summer, we were headed towards a severe drought. Many people were having problems with their wells. We were not one of them since we’re likely tapping the same underground water supply that our Village does. Back in February, the pump for our well quit. Of course it did. At the time I groused about it happening during one of the few cold-spells we had over the winter. Now I’m glad it happened when it did, because the drought has caused well companies to be booked up through to the spring. We would have had a very difficult time getting our water back on as quickly as we did in February. Sometimes things happen for a reason and you don’t realize it until later.

I was looking for pictures of northern Vermont to see what the weather looked like up there. I had planned geocaching up that way this weekend. From what I’m seeing, not much snow stuck up that way. The area of Maine where we camped just a few weeks back did get a good coating of snow, though. Hard to believe I was out paddling on the lake in my kayak just 3 weeks ago and now the snowplows are out. We only saw rain here since we’re south of the notches. It’s also 44° out with a steady wind at 13mph but higher gusts. Tomorrow even in northern Vermont it’s forecast to be 57° which is why any snow that’s fallen won’t be around long.

I was fairly confident the way the election would go in 2016 and that ended up being wrong, so I don’t want to feel too confident now. We are voting in person. With the few cases we’ve had, I’m not worried about voting in person. We’ll wear masks. The development I live in has always been low-key. Many of the homes are second-homes for people, but even among the year-round residents I usually don’t see political signs, even during the primaries. Well, we had a new person move in on the street below mine and he went all-out with the MAGA signs including one that’s probably 4-foot by 6-foot. I have to go past them every time I leave and return. In response, I went and ordered a few signs of my own:

Plus I got Biden/Harris signs and a Jeanne Shaheen sign. For as aware as I am politically, this is the first time in my life I have ever put out a yard sign, and it’s only because I am so sick of the MAGA-cult. I am sick of the signs, the rallies, the flags, and all of the nonsense that has gone on for the last four years. Never before have we had this. After the election the signs usually disappear, but not this time. When I was in Florida on business there were even pop-up Trump stores selling all of this junk.

Need to get to a happier place. I stopped watching the news for the most part 4 years ago, because this whole situation is a strain on the anxiety and depression I live with. I will sign off now and watch something uplifting, like The Hunger Games.

May the odds be ever in your favor….