It is Thanksgiving morning. I have decided to forgo my morning walk, or I have simply not decided to take a walk. It was 50 degrees when I got up at 5:30AM--not your typical Thanksgiving Day morning temperature. The forecast for tomorrow calls for temperatures in the single digits and wind chill in the below zero range.

This morning I get to watch the sunrise as I compose this entry. Now that the tilt of the earth is in its usual seasonal place for this time of the year--a never ending planetary slow dance in my interpretation, I am able to see the morning sky out of the south-facing window over my desk and through the seriously under storied balsams in the neighbor's back yard. For the past several days, the sunrise has included a horizontal ribbon of red along the horizon. If morning red skies are to be a warning to sailors, I am not sure how to interpret the dawns of the past several days. The days have been marked by partly cloudy to sunny conditions with unseasonably warn temperatures. Maybe I am confused about the timing of the warnings; they don't necessarily apply to the very day on which they appear. Could it be that particularly dire weather involves several warnings over as many days preceding the actual outbreak of seriously foul weather? If that be the case, tomorrow might mark the start of the winter of 2012-2013 with a big old exclamation point at its very outset. (This is something akin to Spanish punctuation rules where question marks are placed at the start of and the end of a statement intended as a question.)

Also to mark the change of the season, yesterday I dug out the leftover Christmas cards that had been packed with the Christmas decorations. Yes, it is also that time of the year to think about cards and letters. I have a former co-worker from a job I left in 1984, who must mail Christmas cards the day after Thanksgiving. Experience has shown that I can bank on receiving at least one Christmas card, if not by this weekend, then on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Not only the receipt of that card, but simply its anticipation motivates me to take the first step in my annual Christmas card project. Maybe this is my concession to Black Friday, since shopping--be it Christmas shopping or the regular old generic kind--will not be part of my Thanksgiving weekend activities. Early morning walks will be.

Heartfelt Thanksgiving Greetings to all my faithful and unfaithful readers.

I am satisfied with the outcome of Tuesday's election, both in national as well as local races. I also take considerable satisfaction in that I live in a part of the state where my political leanings are in the majority in terms of the presidential and senatorial races and most local races this time around, at least. During my early voting years, I went several presidential elections where I did not vote for a winner. The past couple of decades have seen a different outcome.

Leading up to an election, one can not accurately gauge the leanings of one's neighbors. Not everyone hosts yard signs or writes vociferous letters to the editor. The shrill voices, which are so often heard, may or may not be representative of the community at large.

Wisconsin shows a curious mix of Democratic and Republican victories. I suspect that Democratic interests have greater sway in statewide races and that Republican interests have greater sway in local or regional races. One can not underestimate the value of the candidate him or herself. It would be perilous to assume that party affiliation is all that matters.

A surprise this time around is voters' acceptance of gay marriage in three states and their rejection of a traditional marriage amendment in the neighboring state. I am not sure anyone predicted such a "sweep." We must keep in mind that these votes addressed the matter and concept of civil marriage and not church or sacramental marriage. This is not unlike those, who posit the indissolubility of marriage and yet accommodate civil divorce.

We can only hope that some accommodation can now be made so that critical national issues can be effectively addressed.