Dawn Is Me

I haven’t been in here in a little while, so I haven’t told you yet that we’ve had something of an event in the Baker household.

Gina has had a birthday.

Not just any birthday, either. Gina turned 20 last Saturday.

Now, compared with either 18 or 21, you may not think of 20 as all that big a deal. Ah, but you see, turning 20 (as Gina herself pointed out to … somebody) means you are officially no longer a teenager.

It’s funny, we notice things like the “official” beginning of teenagerdom at the age of 13. I’m sorry to say that I,for one, had never considered its natural end at age 20.

This is why I need children, to teach me these things.

As events have unfolded, I soon had real and tangible proof that Gina is, indeed, no longer a teenager.

You see, a couple of months ago, in a moment of sisterly initiation, I happened to see her carefully instructing her younger sister. “Rule number one of being a teenager,” she told Kimmie. “You must have your cell phone with you at all times.”

So, the day before yesterday, when I heard Kimmie yelling at Gina (who had just gone downstairs) that she’d gotten a text message, I realized that she really truly had passed beyond teenagerdom.

Welcome to the world of the Grown Up, Gina!

Anyway, I’m about to head into the kitchen with my teenaged daughter and my no-longer-a-teenaged daughter to start baking pies. That’s ’cause TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING AND DIETING BE DAMNED!

-ahem- Excuse me.

Happy Turkey Day to anybody who might stumble upon these ramblings. Do stop to ponder things you are thankful for between bites. I’m sure there’s something …

Ooooooo-kay, so now that’s all over and done with.

Halloween has been and gone (and a good thing, I really don’t like Halloween). Election Day has, too, and I was not chosen to serve my community in public office (trans: I lost).

Now we’re coming into one of my favorite times of year, the Thanksgiving/Christmas nexus.

My kids don’t really like Christmas anymore because we’re too broke to make it interesting for them. That takes a little of the shine out of it for us, too.

But there’s still Thanksgiving.

You wouldn’t think that any holiday that involves me in spending a day and a half in the kitchen would be among my favorites.

Ah, but you see, there’s more to it than the cooking. It has to do with why I like this time of year so much.

It has gotten cold. My noisy neighbors have gone inside their houses, taking their noisy children with them. Nobody is living their lives at the top of their lungs in the middle of the street at this time of year.

It has gotten dark, too, and will grow even darker as we move toward the end of the year. So this is the time when we pull inside the house and get all nice and toasty. It’s the time when we enjoy the golden glow of the hearthfire. I tend to want to burn a lot of candles at this time of year.

This is the time that’s all about home.

It’s special to me. If you were to ask me why, I wouldn’t be able to explain it but … it’s there.

This time of year says, Welcome Home.

Anyone who would care to donate to my campaign for town supervisor can do so here: www.baker4supervisor.com

I don’t care where you live (although, obviously, if you live here then you have more at stake). If you are willing to contribute, your contribution will be gratefully accepted.

The campaign is actually going very well. In fact, it’s almost spooky. While I have been out pressing the flesh and knocking on doors to introduce myself and talk to people, my opponent has not emerged from the fastnesses of his home up on the hill outside the village. If it weren’t for the fact that I have seen pictures of him and I know that he has given statements to the press, I would wonder if somebody had made him up.

So, I have something of a shadow opponent here. The guy is so not-there that it’s tempting to succumb to the feeling that I’m running unopposed.

Of course, that is a mistake that I am NOT making. It would be stupid of me to act like I have this one in the bag. This entire race may come down to GOTV efforts and I know that the local GOP has a formidable GOTV infrastructure in place.

So, I’m not ready to take anything for granted here. But, contrary to the opinion of a bunch of cowed local Democrats, this race is decidedly win-able.

And I’m tired but I’m having a lot more fun that I thought I’d be. Who knew?