Election Day: Dashboard Dane County

Middleton, Wisconsin, November 7, 2016. We're not in Madison any more.

ADDED: This post is not an indicator of my voting preferences. I keep that private.

Remember when 17 politicians ran in the primaries?

That was in 1976. One of the candidates was Terry Sanford, a former North-Carolina Governor and President of Duke University. He later served in the United States Senate.

Sanford also served as chair of the ITT International Fellowship Committee. Sanford and his wife, Margaret, toured southern Italy with the American recipients of the 1983-1984 fellowship.

When I met Governor Sanford, I did not know who he was. During the trip, I learned he was a true gentleman. He was kind in spirit, thoughtful, and buoyant.

Positano, Italy, May 1984. This was a memorable meal: spaghetti with cuttlefish and squid.

"Sonata on Independence"

Today is the 25th anniversary of the day Lithuanians voted to secede from the Soviet Union.

It's election day in Lithuania.

Did you notice?

"Grybauskaite can afford sticking with a small campaign with hardly any posters or TV ads. As the current president, she has the stage whenever she wants. Critics used to accuse her of not mingling with the population enough. So, in the past year, she spent more time with everyday people. During the traditional Uzgavenes carnival in February, she toured the sausage and pancakes booths and posed with dressed-up partiers and teenagers."

More photos here.

The Life Box (Part 18)

I don't have many political buttons. My lunch sack filled with "Nixon's the One" buttons vanished during a move. I still have a "Think Ahead: Impeach Reagan Now" button that someone gave me.

Inauguration Day question: When is it cool to refer to the First Lady as "regal?"

When you're British.

"You sense this extraordinary ability, I think, Michelle Obama has to be both regal and normal at the same time. And that's such a skill."

"It's complicated."

Presidential politics and diplomacy are the topics of opinion pieces in Lithuania, too.

If the waiting gets too tense, then focus on your knitting.

Suburban Chicago, 1961. Mom has the right idea: look down and concentrate.

Are you ready to watch the results?

Suburban Chicago, January 1962. Kadis—the husband of my Dad's twin sister, Jonė—and I settle in for an evening of television.

Let's hope we have a resolution tonight.

Election Day

Here are a few more photos of JFK's March 1963 visit to Chicago:

O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, March 1963. Mayor Daley, sixth from the left and with his hands crossed, appears to have a lot on his mind.

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O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, March 1963. We're heading back to the car, and I'm hanging onto that souvenir flag.

Pausing for politics.

Amber Reunion rarely dabbles in political issues. Others tackle the subject better than I.

I am interested, however, in the Montana Senate race for three reasons. First, I love Montana. If I could rewind the life tape, I would start my adulthood living there. Second, the senate race has national implications. Third, two dear friends of the blog appear in an ad for one candidate.

The ad is a good reminder about keeping charming humor in the mix.

Election "Irregularities"

In Lithuania. Chicago Tribune reports:

President Dalia Grybauskaite, a former EU budget commissioner who is popular with the electorate, refused to accept the Labor Party, which faces allegations of buying votes during the two rounds of balloting.

"A party which is suspected of gross violations in the election, which is suspected of false accounting and non-transparent activities cannot participate in the government's formation," Grybauskaite told a news conference.