November 05, 2008

Voting today in DeKalb County, Georgia

I waited in line only 40 minutes,
thanks to early voting nationwide

(
39 percent of DeKalb County voters
cast their ballots before today).


The wait in line was easy and fun. As with all elections the past ten years, I met many neighbors, fellow synagogue members, and friends — all in my district.

It's a five-minute walk from my front door
to my polling place, Briar Vista Elementary School.














The line waiting to vote snaked along halls
covered with children's work. Here,
the life cycle of . . . pumpkins!














A Venn diagram using Goldilocks and
the Three Bears
and the Three Billy Goats
Gruff
to learn, it appears, size (big, small
medium) and number (3).














Goldilocks and the Three Bears
again,
this time in a lesson on charting
narrative elements (characters, setting,
problem, solution), methinks.



















The grand finale: the state of Georgia!
A map showing Native American Cherokee
and Cree tribe areas, and a note: "The men
went hunting and the women harvested."

3 comments:

JeSais said...

I early voted at the University of New Mexico. One hour wait. I was on campus anyway, and figured had I walked home-- 15 minutes-- driven to another rumored to be less crowded polling location-- another 15 minutes-- then waited there-- 15 minutes, driven home-- 15 minutes, I would have only saved. Nothing. And used up all that gas.

Isn't voting wonderful! several people I know voted for the first time, including my friend's grandfather-- a native american who lives on a reservation-- and my 29 year old co-worker and his wife. I don't care how they voted, just that they did in fact vote. We are so lucky. I get teary-eyed just thinking of it.

Tamar Orvell said...

Jen — What? You could have gone to another polling station? I thought we only could go to the one assigned unless we had it changed officially with a residential address change. Are laws different on this depending on the state?

About the wonder of voting. Yes, of course. I recall seeing the pictures of black people lined up to vote for the first time in South Africa. The beauty and poignancy of that historic moment was etched into my mind's eye. The visual of the long wait. . . and the patience to stand for hours. Another dozen or so after all those decades of being robbed of the franchise.

I called a friend's mom today, an 85-year-old woman whose paternal grandfather was a slave here in Georgia. I congratulated her and all of us on the miracle of this sea-change in the body politic. We elected a president for his abilities to think, inspire, defend the constitution, protect our freedoms, champion meeting our basic needs, and honoring each of us as equals instead of for his connections, origins, special ties, and cronies, and all that irrelevant stuff.

BronzeBuckaroo said...

I had to wait and vote. Luck was on my side that day. I arrived before the lines.