Mornings have been cloudy, gray, and humid. This morning was not the exception. I wheeled the trash can to the curb and in that short time worked up a sweat. The cats followed me meowing in unison demanding to be fed...they have me well trained!
I needed to go pick up the mail at the P.O. Box but true to form did not make my way into town until 3:00 p.m. I had so much mail I could barely take it out of the box...when was the last time I was here? I needed to pick up some items from HEB but first I decided to go check out our Civic Center where early voting is taking place instead of at the Val Verde County Courthouse.
As I have mentioned previously there is little to no information in our local paper that prints twice a week, I do not have a radio except in my car and the only station I like is from Ciudad Acuña and of course, they talk about what is going on in Mexico, not in Del Rio. I, therefore, had no idea how many people are early voting or how long the lines were.
With social distancing, I was afraid that with our high temperatures (they have been in the
'90s) and the fact that there are
no trees at the Civic Center like there are at the
Val Verde County Courthouse I would have to bring
an umbrella and a chair to wait in line.
I had no intention of casting my vote today but when I got to the parking lot there were more campaign vehicles than voters. I could not pass up this opportunity.
The
Police Headquarters are in the back of the Civic Center and when you drove in they were upfront and told you which way to go. When you went into the building the
Val Verde County Sheriff Deputies were manning that post. So there is no reason not to feel safe when you come to vote.
Much like the last time I voted everyone was in full PPE and they even offered free gloves (they looked like the ones that come with hair dye kits) since I was not planning on voting I did not bring my own and used theirs instead.
I did not have to wait in line and was given a ballot immediately as in Del Rio we do not use voting machines just regular paper ballots which I think are the best. They had long tables separated by cardboard inserts and you chose where you sat taking into account social distancing. I think there were about 25 people voting at the time I was there. I was out of there in 15 minutes only because I double-checked my ballot twice.
I feel so much better now! I only wish my Houston friends were as fortunate as some have had to stand in line for
a couple of hours. My neighbor (in Harris County) felt lucky to only have had
an hour and fifteen-minute wait.
Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.
Aunty Acid Saying of the Day
