October 31, 2005
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I just spent over 4 hours out
driving around to all the homes in our township, collecting signatures
for a petition. It is a petition to the governor expressing our
opposition to the road that is threatening to cut a swath through our
rural/residential part of the county. I don’t consider myself a
political activist and I don’t enjoy knocking on people’s doors and
asking them to sign the petition. But it’s one small thing I can
do to help. It’s been very interesting, meeting so many people
I’ve lived near for many years but never really gotten to know.
Out here in the country people don’t always like to answer the door
after dark but tonight being Halloween, most people thought I was a
trick-or-treater!Some homes are opulent, many are very nice, some are very modest.
But everyone cares about their home and their quality of life.
Everyone is opposed to the road. One little house I went to was
particularly interesting. It was an ancient little old farmhouse
with all kinds of sections that had been added on through the
years. The roof had about five different levels and all kinds of
crazy angles. A very nice little old man, a widower, lives there
alone with his dog. As I drove up I noticed all kinds of stained
glass hanging at the windows. I asked him about it and he
smiled. He just collects old windows from auctions or wherever he
finds it, repairs them and sells those that he doesn’t have room for in
his house. Every window in the little old house has stained or
leaded glass hanging over the window. You run into magical things
in the most unlikely places.It’s raining here tonight – something that’s been very rare here in the
last 9 months. Nice to hear it pattering on our roof. A
fire in the woodstove warms the living room – a welcome retreat after
my ramblings.
