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The Placards That Bloom in the SpringApril 15, 2006 My daily rounds don't cover many miles, but to judge by the placards I've seen on lawns and at intersections you'd think half the world was running for selectman. True, my daily rounds cover two towns, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven (aka Tisbury), so not all these civic-minded individuals are running for the same seat, but still . . . When spring comes to New England, it brings first snowdrops, then crocuses, then pinkletinks, then daffodils and the first forsythia blooms -- and town meetings and town elections. After which the beeches, birches, maples, and oaks start to leaf out and it's nearly summer batten-down-the-hatches time. Walking into town this morning, Rhodry sniffed bushes and I checked out the political placards. Let's see -- the Wortman sign was on a lawn that was rooting for Bush and the Marksman in the last presidential election, so maybe he's not our man? But in front of the neighboring Kerry-Edwards house was a sign for Douglas, and about Douglas we are somewhat suspicious. Meader's colors are red, white, and star-studded blue: not quite grounds for an orange alert, but pushing a little close. I didn't see a Balco sign -- there's one up near the intersection with the Edgartown Road, but we were down the other end of Skiff Ave., approaching the Lagoon -- but his ad in the Martha's Vineyard Times disposed me in his favor: along the top it promises "Experience" and "Commitment," and centered under his name "And, a Sense of Humor." Don't know if the man actually has a sense of humor, but the fact that he thinks it's important speaks well for him. For a sense of humor I could overlook that comma after "and." Almost. By now you're probably thinking, Good heavens, with voters like her no wonder the country's a mess." Rest assured: I'm not currently registered to vote. First I was registered in West Tisbury, then for years I was registered in Tisbury (aka Vineyard Haven), but then I moved to Edgartown in the early fall of 2001 and when Tisbury heard it (which was when I begged off paying the town excise tax on Tesah the Late, Great Toyota) I was duly expunged from the rolls. I didn't register in Edgartown: by July 1, 2002, before I could even start to get up to speed on Edgartown politics, I was back in Tisbury. Rhodry's licensed in Tisbury (tag no. 49), I pay the excise tax on Uhura Mazda to the Town of Tisbury, but I'm not registered to vote in Tisbury. This horrifies some people. The other day someone couldn't believe I wasn't registered to vote: "when you have that bumper sticker?" That bumper sticker says "Your silence will not protect you. -- Audre Lorde." Oddly enough, I'd never considered not voting a form of silence. After further consideration, I'm beginning to wonder if voting is a form of silence, or an excuse for silence. I've long thought that voting was like one of the Christian sacraments: meaningful, sacred even, if you believe in what the sacrament symbolizes. Fighting for the right to vote -- no question, that changes lives. In some places, casting a vote requires great courage. Martha's Vineyard is not one of those places, at least not for a fifty-something white woman. I don't entirely believe that if voting could change anything, it would be illegal, but I do suspect that if it required much courage, most of the currently registered would find other places to be on Election Day. I've got a little story about that, but it'll have to wait till tomorrow -- Rhodry and I have horses to feed, and we're doing a live-in horse-sit till Monday afternoon. Later!
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