1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and Tomorrow

Today was an astonishingly warm and pleasant day, considering that a lot of trees are bare already, and that the calendar says early November. It was more like early September today. I sat outside on the deck for a while without a jacket of any kind, and enjoyed it.

This is no place for a soapbox editorial on voting, it's your civic duty blah-blah, but US citizens should all vote tomorrow, if we haven't already, if only because we'll be participating in an historic event. By that I don't this particular election, as important as it might be. I'm not yet convinced it's as important as, say, 1860 or 1932, though there's a slender argument for the comparing 2008 to '32. As usual, only time will tell, but even then there will be arguments about exactly what time said.

I mean participation in the quadrennial election cycle that has been going on since 1789. Come hell or high water, and the water's been pretty high sometimes (1864, and again 1932), the elections go on. I believe that the regularity of the election cycle, whatever its flaws, is an anchor of political stability for the nation, and a stroke of political genius by the Founding Fathers, among their numerous such achievements.

My polling place is Lilly and Ann's school, which has no classes tomorrow for "Institute Day" according to the school calendar, but it's really closed for the election. Lilly asked to go with me to watch me vote in my eighth presidential election, which is the 56th since the adoption of the Constitution, and I will take her.