D-Day

The top view was yesterday morning's sunrise from the slope above the house ... dramatic clouds illuminated through the notch of Mancos Hill. That's one of the many beauties we enjoy in this location!

Getting down to earth, literally, those biking kids in the lower picture aren't zigzagging to avoid deep potholes, as they would have in any of the almost-20 years I've been here. The process has been long and agonizing, affecting the business of Artisans of Mancos and the Absolute Bakery and Café on the right and Custom Woodworking beyond the bridge on the left, but it's a joy to see that smooth surface stretching down to the south edge of town! The pavement was actually laid down on Halloween.

Polls suggest Obama will win today. We'll see. If he does, I hope we'll be able to look back four years from now at the racist and socialist name-calling in this campaign and say, "What was THAT all about?"

In the meantime, we have the local anecdotal evidence of how deeply race underlies this election. A letter to the editor Saturday recounting racial epithets and obscenities directed by young white males at someone registering voters because the registrar had an Obama sign on his truck. An anecotal report of students in a local high school shouting "Nobama" at each other and liberally using the "N" word in their exclamations about why they wouldn't vote for Obama ... undoubtedly reflecting their parents' views. 

"Indigenous Magazine," a student publication of Montezuma-Cortez High School, just came out with results of a voluntary student poll taken at that school. Responses were received from 341 students, who also self-assigned themselves culturally. Obama won 62% of the Hispanic vote, 73% of the Diné (Navajo) vote, 90% of the Ute vote ... and the Caucasian students voted 56% for McCain! 

I hope whoever wins is capable of uniting our nation and healing some of the deep rifts that still divide our populace. tv