There is no escaping this election and all that goes with it. Everywhere I go and everything I do involves something about the election. Signs and billboards while driving down the road. Bumper stickers tee shirts, big flags and even huge blown-up dolls on lawns. Overheard conversations at the gym or the grocery and angry talking heads on the television. Even turned on the radio for some music and had to hear campaign commercials, which are the least likely to offer useful information. I am stressed to the max.

I will vote for Harris/Walz at the top of the ticket and carefully for the down ballot choices to pick serious public servants. There don’t seem to be a lot of those around, but I am searching for them as much as I can. Either way this goes I fear for the near future for people like me and the long term for my great grandkids. The things I love most about this nation are how diverse our people are, how we as a people step up to help when disaster strikes, our freedom of religion and from religion, our history and all we have learned from it. Not so much for the lessons we should have learned and didn’t and not so much for the too many times our government has mistreated groups of people for racist, bigoted reasons. But for those who have been willing to fight and die for the idea of USA we can never be grateful enough. For those who have stood up for rights denied when doing so had serious consequences I am thankful. For leaders who did the right, but unpopular thing, I feel so much gratitude.

We have already given up a woman’s right to manage her health care and to decide what to do with our bodies. The right to vote has been damaged maybe beyond repair. My fear is a future of fewer rights respected by our government and more laws restricting personal lives. Big Brother may become more like Atilla the Hun. I guess that’s going a bit far. My fear is a crazy neighbor runs up and down my street randomly shooting into the houses. My worse fear and more likely is children, innocent children, will be ripped apart by bullets in their classroom.

Even more disturbing is the worry that we will have elected officials who will do nothing. Not one thing to address any of these fears but spend all their time and our money arguing among themselves and propping up the wealthy and powerful. America the Beautiful has lost some of her glow.