Friday, March 18, 2011

For sale: Mountain property in Florida.....MUST SEE!

Getting older allows us to act younger, maybe even childish. And we can do it knowing that we will be given tacit permission by the world: "Well, you know she's a senior citizen, after all," tsk, tsk, rolled eyes and slightly raised eyebrows. Maybe they even reach over and pat my hand.

All the while, we are acting out what they all wish they  could. We have experienced the swing of the pendulum from one extreme to the other dozens of time, with the result that we know if we wait long enough, all the things that are bad for us will eventually regain their solid footing and be good for us again. So, we begin to ignore the latest studies, the most current edicts "they" engineer for the public. We learn to carry on, vowing that no university or research facility can ever dupe us again. Like chilren we ignore those in "authority."

We have also seen the arc of that same pendulum get stuck, a result of society's brokenness at times. Those who follow this column know how I feel about the upcoming elections in my city. (http://agedtoperfectiondeborahhansen.blogspot.com/2011/03/beast-breathes.html) Over the decades I have moved from being an impassioned participant in the democratic process to being a jaded nonbeliever in that same process. I believe that the political machine, fueled by huge amounts of money, consumes anyone "lucky" enough to run for and win elected office. Candidates routinely lie, evade, deceive, and engage in vicious politicking, all of them desperate to win the keys to the kingdom of power and greed. If you actually believe either party holds the answers to our many ills, I have some mountain property in Florida to sell you. Come on over and take a look.

I value our freedom to vote, though. So I signed in the other day at one of the early voting sites, and was pointed toward a voting booth. Instead I made straight for the ballot box. The nice poll worker there thought I had misunderstood.

"No," I said. "No one on this ballot deserves my vote." And I slid the ballot into the box. "But I showed up."

Illegal political signs outside polling place, Jacksonville, Florida
You may call that foolish....maybe even childish. I call it acting on years of experience and really not having to care what anybody thinks any longer.

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