Your Vote Counts

Billy & Gloria Copeland

I didn't want to go and vote today.  After all, there were only five positions being filled or decided in my hometown.  It would be easy to assume that my vote doesn't really count but unfortunately a few years ago, I learned the hard way that my vote really mattered.  

Back in the '90s my dad was running for a city council post in my home town and during the election season all of our family and friends spent every spare moment making phone calls, putting up signs, and working intersections during rush hour campaigning for my dad.  Vote Holt!

The town I grew up in, which was where my dad was campaigning, was about an hour and a half from my home town.  While I was so busy helping with my dad's campaign, I forgot to get an absentee ballot and I wasn't at home on election day.  I didn't vote.

It would be easy to think that my vote didn't matter.  But guess what. It did matter. Let me restate what I just said.  I didn't vote and neither did my husband.  Our Mayor,  an incredible city leader of 28 years lost the election.

Today on Facebook, the granddaughter of the man who lost the election the year I didn't vote, posted this message:

 It is very important that you go vote if you have not already. Some years ago Billy LOST the Mayors race by 2 votes. Just 2 votes, think about that. In talking with folks after that election, Billy came across so many of his supporters that told him "You had so much support, we just figured you would win, so I did not go vote" . If just 3 people had gone to vote that year, the outcome would have been different.
Make a difference, your vote COUNTS !

The Holidays Are Coming...

And I'm really getting excited about Thanksgiving holidays this year. 

I'm not expecting turkey for Thanksgiving but I am expecting that I'll be eating some of the best food in the world.  

Looking forward to a holiday in Beirut.

Hygge

As the seasons changed and bloggers started buzzing about fall, I started wishing for spring.  As I've gotten older I just don't enjoy fall or winter.  

Recently I read a bit about "hygge"  and since it has given me a whole new way of thinking about the season.  

Hygge, (pronounced "hooga") is a Danish word that means coziness.  

It's a warm, sociable feeling that comes to the fore in autumn and winter and that, for Danes, is one of the highest states to which humans can aspire.

Wool sweaters, hats with earflaps, blazing log fires, strong ales in old wood-paneled bars and candles galore, even at breakfast, all conjure "hygge." 

So this year instead of focusing on the cold, darkness and brown landscapes, I'll think about more candles, friends and creating a cozy environment.

Check out this NPR article about hygge if you want to learn more.