… and, not a moment too soon. Just think, after today,  no more ads for the candidates – no more harping on their adversary’s inadequacies, either vocally, or on Twitter or Facebook.  Hallelujah!

Meanwhile, on this morning’s walk, I had to be more careful than usual, as people were not just scurrying along for their regular a.m. routine, but, most of them no doubt would try to stop and vote before they arrived at work.

The polls were a hoppin’ place, according to all the news reports, and, just a few of the voters, like this motley crew, were already waiting in line to vote for their favorite candidate, almost as soon as sunrise. (Unless, of course, they were queued up for the free Krispy Kreme Election Day donuts?)

At least this morning did not start out foggy like yesterday. I was lucky my boss was scheduled to be out all morning on Monday, otherwise, I would not have gotten my walk in, as it was still foggy at 9:00 a.m.!  So, off I went, at 9:30, the last dregs of fog being evident in Ford Park as I passed by.  I heard a honking overhead, and knew a flock of Canada geese was nearby, but I couldn’t see a single one of them.

There were no pit bull sightings today either, unlike that pit bull lurking on the Boulevard Friday morning … it made me wary, and caused me to turn around and hope and pray it did not follow me home.

I saw Pat taking her Jack Russell terrier, Lucy, for their regular morning stroll. Lucy was suited up in her pink wool coat as she travelled alongside her mistress; I, however, had just unbuttoned the top three snaps of my own coat as that sun finally filtered through the fog.  I had not factored in the strength of the sun since the time change and the later walking time and I had begun to get very warm.  Lucy might have liked to shuck that pretty pink coat as well.

A pair of cocker spaniels who live in a corner house I pass each day got major haircuts over the weekend, and I almost didn’t recognize them. They always bark themselves silly at me, and, I have been wondering for awhile how they could even see me as they try to peer through their curly hair and long, silky ears.  As usual, their barking is strictly for show, no doubt to impress their pet parents who are usually close by.  They remind me of my own caramel-colored cocker spaniel, Coco, who was very sweet, but he always dragged his droopy, silky, ears into everything.  My mom threatened to pin those ears up with clothespins, or tuck them into a bandana, while he was eating or drinking.  As a child, I remember her calling after him as he made a beeline down the hall with sopping wet, or dogfood-covered ears.  This pair of spaniels barked and barked, their backsides and tiny tails wiggling in earnest, because, as usual, they were conflicted whether to wag or not, i.e. was I friend or foe?

Hope you were not conflicted at the polls with your ballot-casting and are pleased with the eventual outcome … thankfully, the end of this over-long and mostly contentious presidential campaign is over.