I’m sure it’s election day somewhere, right? Michigan? And then they won’t have to deal with it again until November, so good for them. I’m getting bombarded with so much paper every day that I’m glad it’s all recyclable. And I’m really glad it isn’t a requirement that you read it before you recycle it. Mostly I look to see who paid for the ad, and make a mental note. Who wants me to vote for the Indian casinos? The four tribes who would run them, that’s who. What a shock.

I was thinking about the election, and the war, as I stood at the back door this afternoon, looking through the glass as a hawk was chasing a flock of doves. I don’t know if the hawk had any specific intentions, but it would land in one of the bare walnut trees and the doves would flutter away to another tree and occupy it for awhile. They kept exchanging positions without making any actual contact, kind of like politicians. The thing about the doves is that there are always more of them. Somehow that’s a bit of a comfort to me. As it must be to the doves.

Today was also the day I saved a squirrel’s life. I did it by not running over it, which I could easily have done. There’s a place near the bank where the street narrows because of an oak tree that the city planners kindly saved. As I drove up to that spot, I noticed the squirrel in the street, looking a little unsure of which way to go. I slowed, then stopped, because obviously I didn’t want to kill the poor creature, although it lives in an area where I doubt the lifespan of squirrels is very long anyway. So I probably saved it only temporarily, I guess.

On my own road, there is an actual dead skunk that has been in the same spot for the last three or four days. It’s at a blind spot created by a bend in the road, which probably explains (a) why it was hit in the first place, and (2) why it’s still there, since nobody wants to stand in the road shoveling skunk parts only to have a pickup take the wide turn and slam into you. Knowing it’s there helps me avoid flattening it even more, but it’s obvious others aren’t as careful (or aware), because it’s about one SUV away from becoming a permanent part of the roadbed.

It’s in about the same place where I once narrowly missed a peacock that was meandering across the road. There was a real disaster waiting to happen. I don’t see the peacocks around there any more, and I wonder if that group is now extinct, or if they’ve just found a safer place to strut.