P-DAY

a day of pouring rain splashing into the  puddles created by the melting snow.  a day of leaping from the college thru the parking lot to the car, from the car to the primary voting site at the elementary school, to find i was  (at 11:30 am)  only the 30th person to have shown up.  the ONLY person voting, at that particular moment in time.  yes, it's a small town, yes it's crappy weather.  but, c'mon folks, this is your citizen privilege!

so, the x is marked, the button is pushed, the primary vote is cast.  and i ended up, after some gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands, voting for John Kerry.  i could have cast my vote for the candidate of my true heart, Kucinich, but i didn't.  i want this party to coalesce around one candidate, and i want it to be the candidate who has the largest chance of winning the national election.  that's all i care about right now.  and, to me, right now, it looks like that is Kerry. several things i've read lately influenced my vote, here is one of them, from Denis Hayes in Grist Magazine.  here Hayes, instigator of the first Earth Day in 1970, now chair of the Intl. Earth Day Netwk, speaks of Kerry's devotion to the issues of the environment in a very convincing fashion.  as there are many voices, both in AOL journals and internet blogs, devoting space and energy to most of the other issues, i have decided to focus on the environment as my issue of choice. 

Grist Magazine also has a new weekly feature they are calling "Interactivist." it began this week, with an interview with Hank Dittmar, head of Reconnecting America.   he is an interesting example of the new breed of young environmentalists who see people, and the human community, as integral parts of the environment.  i find his viewpoints give me much food for thought. you can email questions to him via the link above, and at the end of the week the answers will be posted.  this promises to be a lively dialogue.