This date has always had a lot of meaning for me. I wrote about it on the literary website, Vulpes Libris. If you're interested, you can read the post here

It was a long, slow day on at this month's craft show on Saturday the 6th. Not very many customers at all. I don't know if it was because there was at least 4 other shows were also scheduled or if it was the cold & gloomy weather. Or both. The temperature had dropped at the end of the week & we had our 1st snow mixed in with rain on Friday evening. Forecasts said it was to continue through the morning, but luckily, the precipitation stopped during the wee hours & it was dry for the day. Some of the crafters who'd been there before said there wasn't as much publicity done this year, not even a notice in the paper, because the lady in charge had been in the hospital & the other people on the committee didn't pick up the reins. I found it odd that not a single person from the organizers spoke to the crafters. I found my table on my own, luckily it was one of the first ones I looked at & had my name on a sheet of paper. At no point did anyone come by to check if everything was going well or anything. It was very weird. I don't think I've ever been in a show that had such little contact with the organizers.
There was a lot of jewelry & many of the tables selling it were bunched together. A half dozen tables were empty with no shows, I wondered what the people would've been selling had they appeared. The table on one side of me contained a large family displaying a few bracelets. Along with the parents, there was at least 4 blond girls of various ages sitting there at various times & other couples & kids would stop by through the day. I don't know if anyone ever bought anything or if it was a social event. The elderly ladies on the other side of me were busy all day with their sewn potholders, bibs & ornaments.
There were a few crafters there which I'd met at other shows, so it was nice seeing them again. As the day wore on, people ranged wider looking for conversation & I met the people at the tables behind me who were very friendly. I was impressed with how pleasant everyone was. Everyone I talked to were very nice. Customers would stop & look at my wares & even compliment, but in the end I only made a few dollars more than my table fee. The lady across from me, selling wreaths & arrangements, was one of the busiest people there. The mayor of the suburb even bought something from her, what a coup that was!
I'm not sure if I'll be doing that show again, but I have till sometime next summer to decide. But even though it wasn't a profitable day, I did enjoy the new experience and all of the conversations.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

                      -Lt. Col. John McCrae (1918)

Well, the election did not go as well as I'd hoped, since a lot of Republicans won. But at least some of the really wacky ones lost, for which I'm thankful. The Republican leaders in Congress have said their main focus would be "to make certain Obama was a 1 term president", so that doesn't sound as if they plan on getting much done. That's not good news for the country, to have one party thinking their main job is revenge and obstruction.
I'm busy getting last minute things done for my 2nd craft show of the season, which is this Saturday. It's at St. Angela's Church which is a ten minute drive from my home. I've been there as a customer, but this will be my first time as a vendor. last year, the crafters said they did well, especially in the morning, which was busy. There's at least 4 other craft shows besides that one, all within a few miles of each other. I'm sure some people will go from one to another, but I guess it would depend on how dedicated a shopper a person is. I've got some new cloth with tiny pine cones on that will be across the middle of my table & I'm taking actual pine cones as well, to scatter around & emphasize the winter wilderness effect. I'm hoping it's not rainy or too cold, though I'm dressing warmly just in case. At the last show, in Oct. I did better than I'd hope, so fingers crossed that this one is profitable as well. In any case, I'll be back next week with a report from it.....

Tomorrow is Election Day here in the U.S. Not an important day for most Americans, who are apathetic about anythign that doesn't directly affect their own tiny lives. One way to help voter turnout would be to give the day off to workers, as many other countries do, or to hold elections on a weekend, when more folks are off. Ohio has absentee ballots, which can be had for the asking & one can mail it in up to a month before Election Day. That's what I've been doing the last couple years, that way I don't have to worry about getting sick & missing it.
I've always been interested in politics & world events. When I turned 18, it didn't matter that I was then able to drink beer, but that I could now register to vote.I'm a fiercely liberal Democrat, but there are a few Republicans that I like. One of these is Christine Todd Whitman, who was the first woman governor of New Jersey & also part of Dubya's cabinet. I recently read her memoir & reviewed it on Vulpes Libris at here
Though I watch political oriented shows like Rachel Maddow & Jon Stewart all year round, on Election Day, the reports of races around the country makes me feel like a sports fanatic waiting to see how my favorite teams did. I'm disappointed when races are too close to call & need a few days to be counted.
The U.S. ought to go towards a system such as England's, where the candidates have a limited time and amount of money that they are allowed to spend campaigning. The amount that some candidates are spending this year is ridiculous, in some cases, it's more than the job actually earns.And to think of all the trees destroyed to make those insipid advertising flyers! Aside from the negative ads, the commercials promoting the politicians are all very similar: candidate talking to multi-cultural group of people in a business or factory setting(or both), candidate talking to elderly people, then shaking hands with police officers and last, a family portrait, complete with dog. I really don't understand why the family clip is so important, is it to show they are fertile or stable or have good genes? It's probably something to do with "family values", but then, the Nazi's had good family values too.
This year there are a lot of scary extremist candidates, full of bigotry, misogyny and stupidity, sometimes all three. I really hope none of them are elected, but some of them are doing surprisingly well in their region according to surveys.Fingers crossed that they are defeated & that ultimately, decent people are the ones who win.