We take to the streets

Rush, rush, rush. See last week's entry. It was a little easier last week, but not by much.

I thought our team would get eliminated from the football playoffs last Friday night. After all, they faced the team that beat them 28-0 in late September.

Final score: Our team 44, their team 12. And one of their touchdowns came in the last minute, against our reserves.

So they go on. Next game is Saturday night, at the dome in Marquette. About 100 miles away.

Saturday, we got out of town to visit my mom. But we made plans to get back home by 7 p.m., so it was a little more rush-rush than usual. "I'm tired of rush-rush days," I told my wife. "And I'm even more tired of rush-rush weeks and rush-rush months."

OK, remember this wristband I wore last year? I showed it to you on MB last summer (back when MB was still alive).



After the "4" it says "Bush."

Every month up here, the Northwoods Peace Coalition holds a candlelight vigil on a Saturday night at a downtown corner. I had seen their signs earlier but always managed to forget about it until too late. This time, the final weekend before the election, I remembered.

There were about six people, including my wife and I. Here's what it was like. My wife is holding my candle--my hands were busy.



It was quiet and low key. One person had a sign that read "Peace now." But we were quiet--just stood along the street, talked quietly and held our candles. Some people waved as they drove past. Others honked the horn. We waved back.

It was in the mid 20s (a few degrees warmer than at the football game the night before). After a while I remembered that I had gloves in the car, so I got them, gave my wife my gloves and wore my fingerless gloves.

And that, really, was about it. We were there about a half hour, then the group broke up, and we headed for home to warm up. Watched a movie, then went to bed.

Tuesday, of course, is Election Day, and we're rock-solid voters. Every election we're there, no matter how seemingly trivial. The local Elks Club holds a "pancake day" on Election Day, so we'll get filled on pancakes and all the fixins. Then back to normal activities. I've got girls basketball that night, and then we'll turn on the TV and see what happens.

I've got my hopes. But then I had my hopes on Election Day 2004. The next day, I wore black.

Crossing my fingers.