Breathe in!  Breathe out!  I almost forgot how.

Election week finally climaxed, and we have a winner!!  Trump is fired and Biden/Harris can now get down to the work of restoring some sanity and recovery, and membership in the world.

The dominant emotion is sheer relief.  Some actual hope may even be in play.  I can live another day.  We drink to it!  L’chaim, to life.

Just to catch up, here’s what you missed from the Week That Wasn’t…

Shabbat, and Misu waiting…and waiting…for her vote to be counted.

More plants came indoors, and more flowers, leaves, and berries flaunted their colors outdoors.  Misu waiting some more.

Most importantly, our victory celebration.  Cheers!  To a COVID-free future.  And all the other things.

We finally voted!  What a relief.  There was no suppression or intimidation that we could see, other than some guy with an NRA hat skulking about in the parking lot, and a big bovine guy blocking an exit.  The line outside was very short and moving along, everyone was masked and distancing, precautions were in place, and the poll workers were managing everything extremely efficiently and helpfully.  I noticed some diversity in the line, and I’m guessing not everyone there was a trump voter.  The whole process took us at most a half hour.  That’s the one advantage of living in podunk, TN.  And now we hunker down some more and wait in suspense.  May the real humans win.  (Not the demon-spawn.)

Tomorrow is the dreaded general election, which is when we’ve decided to vote, having weighed the various risks.  Hopefully the lines won’t be too long, and COVID precautions will be in place.

Then it’s just the beginning of a long suspenseful week (month?) of results being tallied.  We can only trust that trump’s criminal suppression and intimidation of voters will be exposed for what it is, and the majority of votes will count.  We also hope for many down-ballot races to turn the tables toward more progressive legislators, and defeat some of these conmen holding our democracy hostage.  That’s about all the hope and idealism I can muster in the face of so much disintegration of sanity and justice.

Until then, here’s something more down-to-earth I’m thrilled about–my fall saffron crocuses started to bloom!  These are the ones that produce actual culinary saffron threads.

Here are some fine bloody marys (maries?) E made last night.  Also an herby windowsill view.

It’s been getting frosty at night, and a bit chilly by day, so I decided to harvest what’s left of my peppers and tomatoes.  Soon I’ll be bringing the potted tropicals and herbs in.  There’s still much work to be done outside to prep for winter.  One step at a time, which is about all I can manage right now anyway.

For Halloween we stayed home (what a surprise) and watched old cheesy classic horror movies.  No candy was involved, just cheese and kitsch.  It was good, safe fun.  It was also a rare full “blue moon”, the first on Halloween since WWII, so that was different.  Let’s hope a year like this one only comes that seldom.

Also on Halloween, my son returned to St. Louis for some indeterminate period.  I’m very thankful I got to see him one more time.  One never knows these days if it will be the last.  I didn’t get to say all the things I was thinking, but I hope he knows by now I love and miss him all the time.

It’s definitely changing over to fall on this Nov. 1, with chilly wind and night temps falling to the 30s.  It must know we turned the clocks back an hour, or that it’s my brother’s birthday.  Where we’re from, it would be seriously into cold, icy weather about now, or at least before climate change.  But here it’s still springlike during the days.

Today I managed to transplant a few more cedar saplings to the driveway fence line.  I’d do more, but my back has been killing me.  I look like a zombie shambling along.  I fit right into the scary season.

Here’s my show-and-tell for today.  This empty wasp nest fell down on the porch, and I found this beautiful butterfly or moth with bluish fur, and a tail like a tiny bird.  I think it’s a long-tailed skipper, found in S. America and parts of the southern USA.

Just a few more anxious days (weeks?) until the fate of our democracy is determined.  Election night is only the beginning of the melodrama.  But enough apprehension for now.  There are autumnal scenes to be captured.  And my editor Misu to humor.

The weather seems to have “turned a corner”, unlike some other conditions (like COVID) a certain liar-in-chief likes to claim.  In just a few more days (or weeks, depending), hopefully our collective votes will turn the final corner on this terrible chapter of history.

There’s a chill in the damp air after all the rain, and trees are finally starting to thin out.  It’s getting a little more challenging finding fresh new subjects to photograph, but never impossible.  The only trick is typing with a cat draped over me and the keyboard.

Here are E’s latest, greatest challot, Misu “proofreading”, and the usual seasonal suspects.

It’s still raining, many inches worth in just a short period, and the green grass is covered with a shiny gold leaf layer, with flecks of vivid red.  Everywhere you look there are striking splashes of color against the rainy background.  There’s beauty to be found in even the darkest days.

And now back to a deluge.  I got those few trees in yesterday just in time to get soaked in.  The rest will have to wait their turn, but all this rain will definitely facilitate the process.  Misu loves a hard rain, because she gets more of me, and even “helps” me type.

Meanwhile, I managed to get these shots in a lull between downpours.  As leaves turn and fall, new flowers are still blooming in this mild, wet weather.

Today I dug about 20 holes for the cedars and other trees along the driveway fence line.  Later on I’ll pick out the saplings I want to transplant.  It’s the latest step in my evil plan to surround us with a native tree screen.

Here are some bright colors holding on during this season of transition.

It’s been raining intermittently, while temps remain mild, and leaves continue their vivid show.  Pollinators are concentrating their efforts before the weather changes.  This time of year is full of photographic contrasts and textures, and new perspectives I hadn’t considered before.

In this particular year of horrors, I’m thankful for all the small things some take for granted, like not contracting the plague, and having a yard full of nature to play around with.  (Also having a stable combined fixed income with which to pay our bills and buy food doesn’t hurt!)  It’s not always easy, but compared to the world meltdown and train wreck, we are very fortunate.  Who knew it would ever come down to this?

Now if we can all have the presence of mind to vote this vile nightmare out of office, we can all start inching back toward undoing some damage and recovering some ground.  Our very survival depends on it.