Walking Past the Future

My husband and I walk to the polls this morning to cast our votes. It is a beautiful day in Salem, Indian summer, maybe, though I'm not sure whether or not we've yet had a killing frost since I've been away on book tour for so many weeks. The Halloween crowds have all left and gone back to their normal and, hopefully, less scary lives. We can once again hear the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot as we stroll the wavy brick sidewalks past the centuries old Federal style mansions. There is something so old fashioned, so connected to history about walking to the polls to vote. At the same time, in this age of energy consumption reevaluation, there is something new and green about it as well. No fossil fuel is consumed, just some of the calories we had for breakfast. Change is in the air.