07:25 – Election Day today. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bestir myself because there’s nothing on the ballot of much interest. Except Amendment One, the hateful attempt to write discrimination against gay people into the North Carolina Constitution. Unfortunately, if one believes the polls, this contemptible piece of fundie slime is likely to pass. Well, if it does, it’ll be despite Barbara’s and my votes.
I don’t understand how any decent human being could vote in favor this amendment. The obvious answer is that they couldn’t. As long as they were at it, I don’t understand why these fundie assholes didn’t expand the language of Amendment One to require Jews to live in ghettos and wear yellow stars of David. Hey, come to think of it, they could also have included language to return all these descendants of slaves to their rightful owners. Geez.
09:55 – Well, that was interesting. I just took Colin for a walk down to the corner. As he was sniffing around the corner yard, what should he notice but an evil C-A-T lying in Kim’s yard next door? So Colin tried to pull me over to see the evil C-A-T, but I forced him to stay near the curb. When we arrived in front of Kim’s house, the evil C-A-T was still lying there near the house, about 50 feet (15 meters) from the street and a couple meters from the walk between the street and Kim’s front door. Colin and the evil C-A-T stared at each other for a minute or so, with neither of them moving.
Then, apparently deciding that with the cat distracted it was a good time to make a break for it, a chipmunk sprang out of the grass near the evil C-A-T and made for Kim’s walk. The evil C-A-T pounced and missed, and the chipmunk sprinted down Kim’s walk toward Colin, with the evil C-A-T in hot pursuit. Apparently, the evil C-A-T realized that charging into Colin’s range wasn’t a good idea, because it clamped on the brakes and skidded to stop. Meanwhile, the chipmunk ran right up to Colin, noticed that it’d escaped one predator only to approach a Fearsome Predator. It scurried into the grass next to the walk. Colin approached it closely to sniff it, but took no hostile action. Eventually the chipmunk just couldn’t take it any more, so it made a break for the walk and ran down the walk the few feet to the street. Colin, of course, was in hot pursuit.
But, as I’ve said before, Border Collies have had all the kill instinct bred out of them, so Colin showed no interest in the chipmunk as a potential meal. Instead, he herded it, circling around it and crouching just as he would for a sheep that wasn’t cooperating. The chipmunk dashed this way and that, with Colin cutting it off at every turn. Eventually the chipmunk, snuggled up right against my boot, where it was apparently ready to put down roots. I called Colin off. Well, actually, I pulled him off. The chipmunk jumped up on the curb and scampered down toward the corner, with both Colin and the evil C-A-T watching its progress.
Then the evil C-A-T rose and began stalking toward the chipmunk. Incredibly, Colin moved to block the evil C-A-T, protecting the chipmunk. I am not making this up. Each time the evil C-A-T moved toward the chipmunk, Colin moved to put himself between the evil C-A-T and the chipmunk. Apparently, the fact that Colin had been herding that chipmunk for a minute or so was sufficient to make the chipmunk a member of Colin’s flock. So naturally, he had to protect a flock member from a predator, which he did in spades. Eventually, the evil C-A-T gave up. Colin watched the chipmunk finish its journey to the corner and go down a storm drain, and then we walked home.
11:07 – When I voted at 10:15, I was voter number 172 for our precinct. That’s a pretty heavy turnout for that early in the day for a primary election. That’s good news, because a light turnout skews things in favor of older people, who tend to vote regardless and also tend to support Amendment One. The heavy turnout favors issues supported by the less dedicated voters. Unfortunately, it’s started to cloud up and drizzle, which tends to discourage liberals, young voters, and others who’d tend to oppose Amendment One. Still, I’m cheered by the relatively high turnout so far. In past primaries when I voted around the same time of morning, I’d usually be voter number 60 or thereabouts. At least so far, the turnout appears to be two or three times heavier than usual.