On the campaign trail

I have been meaning to post for days now, but there never seems to be time. Most mornings I wake up, go for a run (I had to temporarily suspend my break from it as food in the heartland leaves me needing to burn off some calories) or do some yoga in my room, get picked up by Brian between 8:30 and 9am, and then we're on the road or making calls and doing data entry until around 10 or 11pm every night.

Last Friday was Brian's last day off until Election Day, so we took a break from work and went to nearby Lake Okoboji.

Weekends are devoted mostly to going door to door, and that is exactly what I did for eight hours on Saturday and three on Sunday. I was a little intimidated by the idea of knocking on strangers' doors, but after a few you get used to it, and I really only had one or two bad experiences. You meet a lot of nice old ladies, as well as Obama supporters who want to talk your ear off because they think that you're able to convey ideas directly to Barack.

One door I knocked on had a sticker on it that said, "The owner of this property is armed. There is nothing inside worth risking your life for." No one answered the door after one knock; I didn't wait around to knock again.

The past week has been quite the roller coaster ride. I've had really uplifting moments, and I've had really emotionally fraught ones as well. I think that I am still processing a lot of my thoughts and want to have more time with them before I can come to any strong conclusions. I will say that the Obama staffers I have worked with so far are some of the hardest working people out there. At the same time, I sometimes find myself frustrated with the disorganization that comes with people who are not as experienced with campaigns (and who are all very young) running the show. That's all I'm going to say for now.

Oh, and if you didn't catch Michelle Obama's speech tonight, try to find someone who DVRed it (Dave did). I for one teared up on numerous occasions.

"Yes we can!"

Ain't that America

Sunday afternoon I arrived in Des Moines, Iowa. Unable to connect to the one bus a day to Fort Dodge, I was placed in the care of a lovely Des Moines native (and hardcore Obama supporter) with whom I stayed the night. She is a grandmother 11 times over and we spent the afternoon and evening chatting about her grands as well as watching the Olympics.

Yesterday I boarded the bus to Ft. Dodge (via a transfer at the Flying J truck stop). The Des Moines Greyhound station is a slice of America that I have not experienced, perhaps ever. I could barely hear the newscast being broadcast on the wall-mounted TV over the sounds of the arcade-style shoot-'em-up video games (to which I contributed a quarter when a fellow passenger asked if I had one so he could play).

They always say Iowa is flat, and they are right. Out the window of the bus all there is is corn, corn, and more corn, as far as the eye can see.

I was met at the Ft. Dodge bus station by my friend Brian who is the Field Organizer for the Obama campaign here in Kossuth county. Last night we attended the Kossuth County Democrats Executive committee meeting.

Today is my first full day on the campaign. Let the adventure begin.
(I'll try to post some photos soon, no time right now.)

Tourist in my own city

Last Thursday, Dave, Kae and I went on a mini tourist adventure. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then had pizza at Grimaldi's followed by ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. I had heard good things about Grimaldi's, but I am always skeptical of things that seem over-hyped, not to mention the fact that waiting in line for pizza seems unnecessary in a city where good (line-free) pizza abounds.

For once, I was not disappointed. The pizza was delicious; the ice cream was pretty awesome as well.

That same morning, my father and I had lined up for tickets to see the Shakespeare in the Park production of Hair (which Dave, my parents, and I went to see that evening). It was a very New York summer day.

Who are the pee-ers in your neighborhood

This morning, on my way out to walk the dog, I noticed a stain on our doormat that was not there last night. In addition, there was a small yellow stain on the floor next to the mat. On closer inspection (involving a quick sniff check) I realized what it was: urine.

WHAT?

Were Kuma to pee on a neighbor's doormat (which, for the record, he would never do) I would be mortified, and would, of course, leave a note with my number offering to pay for cleaning or a replacement mat. Furthermore, we only really have one "neighbor," as there is only one other apartment on our floor. We met them the other day, a nice-seeming middle aged couple with a beagle, but I am in no position to knock on their door and accuse them of a pee and run.

This is definitely a first in my New York life.

Beard-o

(Warning: the end of this post contains a disturbing photograph, parental supervision is advised for children under the age of 13.)

While we were on vacation on the west coast, Dave decided to humor me and not shave for our entire one-month trip. I had never seen him with anything more than a few days' worth of weekend stubble, so it was a lot of fun charting his evolution, over time, from clean cut banker to laid back mountain man. I must admit, I grew quite fond of it.

Dave shaved it all off today, but not without first giving me quite the surprise when I returned from putting the clothes in the dryer....

We laughed uncontrollably for several minutes, and then I couldn’t look him in the face until he finished the job. I can safely say that those five minutes of being married to Dave-with-mustache are more than enough to last me for the rest of our life together.

Precious cargo

Tuesday night I flew to São Paulo to pick up Kuma and bring him to the US. We arrived at Newark airport yesterday morning and, despite having been locked in his crate for 17 hours, Kuma seemed surprisingly unfazed as he came bounding out into the New Jersey sunshine and proceeded to take a very long pee on the grass outside the Continental Cargo building.

Yesterday we took him on a long walk through Riverside park to get him acquainted with his new surroundings. He seems to love New York already, and he's quite fond of his new bed too.