Sorry I haven’t posted anything exciting. I still need to do a write-up about a driving tour we took of our town. I have some great pictures from it with a lovely church that George Washington read morning prayers in during the Revolutionary War. I also need to write about our amazing trip to Boston over the Fourth of July. Our family camping trip on the Appalachian trail had some nice moments that I would like to chronicle. All this piles up on my to-do list, as does the laundry, clothes that need to be put away and the piles of paper sitting on my desk. And so what do I do? I write a post about current events.
So a few thoughts about the current economic conditions and my feelings about said conditions.
Gas: I’m so grateful that it is below $4.00 a gallon. I think it got to about $4.64 a gallon here in Westchester county. It was alarming to fill up my tank and have the pump stop at $75.00 and still needing to add to the tank. Although I breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t as expensive, I still feel very concerned over the current prices. It has been a positive drive toward hybrid vehicles. My husband drives a used Honda hybrid. It’s a cute little two-seater that gets 50 mpg. My husband drives about 30 miles a day to and from work total. I use it whenever I have more than two people to cart around. I recently drove it to a training meeting because I’m going to be an elections inspector this year in November. Which brings me to my next topic:
Elections: I’m excited that I get to a part of the election process. I’m going to be manning a special machine that will allow the severely disabled to vote. Anyone is allowed to use the machine, but its design and purpose are geared toward the disabled. I am happy to avoid all the tedious details of finding names in books and dealing with potential disputes over being allowed to vote.
I’m intensely interested in the election. Neither candidate thrills me in the slightest. While Obama is certainly intelligent, an amazing orator, and skilled, I disagree with his intent to bring our country more into socialism. I’ve lived with socialism and I’ve several complaints against it. I’m not greatly impressed with McCain either and his age certainly concerns me. But I really, really like Sarah Palin. I feel like there is actually someone on the ballot who can relate to me as a mother, woman, and small-town citizen. She’s tough and smart. I’ve been disappointed with the bashing that has been directed against her on both sides. The criticism from conservative women that she is a working mother and will harm her family is hypocritical because the same standards aren’t applied to any of the male candidates. It’s sexist and completely ignores the contribution and support of her husband. I also disagree with the stance of liberal feminists in claiming that Palin’s support on some issues marks her as anti-woman. As a stay-at-home mother to four children, I have yet to see Palin’s stance as anti-woman. I realize we all have different opinions about these issues. Whatever the outcome, this is a very historic election. I hope you are all registered to vote and exercise your right accordingly.
Economic turbulence: My husband called me this afternoon and said “I wanted to call and tell you that I love you.” His tone was especially fervent as went on, “I’m so glad you convinced me not to try and buy a house when we moved to New York. The house rejected the bail-out bill.” It is ironic that we didn’t try to purchase a house. We discussed it extensively and even qualified for a loan. But I felt such a nagging sense of worry about it, then we decided against it. Six months later, we are both profoundly grateful that we didn’t buy a house. We don’t know what the future holds for us, but it is very relieving that we don’t have the burden of a huge mortgage hanging over our heads.
Sometimes we are tempted to think that markets have never been this bad or that circumstances have never been this threatening, but just looking back a hundred years in our history reveals a very different picture. In the 30’s, my own great-grandfather lost every penny he had in a bank failure. Somehow, his family survived and lived happily. The 80’s was a rotten decade for my father’s business and he still remembers that time with a shudder. And yet my parents still manage to hang on to their business and feed and clothe my sisters and I. They even managed to help put us through college. So even though things are tough right now and may even get worse, I still feel hope for our future.
And finally, in the spirit of optimism, I made the most beautiful beef pot pie for our dinner tonight. And my living room is clean. I even managed to tackle the disgusting bathroom the boys use. I’ve locked it so it will stay clean for a little longer.
Here’s hoping I can catch up!
A Stranger Here 