Did the thing

 I originally planned to early-vote tomorrow, but a committee meeting got called on sort notice, so I sort of sighed inwardly and thought "If I get done with lab and all the after-stuff in time, and I'm not too grubby or tired, maybe I go today."

The courthouse (where the voter bureau is, so where you go for early voting) is a couple blocks from my house and is actually a bit closer than the church I would vote at on voting day.

But first: field lab.Tree sampling. I was afraid we couldn't go because at first Motor Pool could not find the request paperwork I *filed like a month ago* but after I tried to call the secretary (wasn't in) and the motor pool person tried to call my department chair (he wasn't in), I pressured them to check again, and they found it had been filed with the NOVEMBER requests.

womp womp.

So I was almost late to pick up the students, and it's a 25 minute drive to the site, and I was hassled and tense 

But things got better. The students usually enjoy this lab, and this semester I think most of my folks are conservation students rather than pre-meds, so they're more comfortable with being outside.

Nothing super photogenic this time (it's been dry) but there was beautyberry (the color is off in this photo for some reason, the berries are much more magenta)

 And lichens. Lichens are always interesting and there are a lot of different species here. Twenty years ago I could take a stab at which one this was - I had a student who did a project with me back then - but I've forgotten most of the names I learned. Anyway, it's a foliose lichen, and I think it's one of the more common species (or might be two species on the same twig) around here

 I did get the students back about 10 minutes late, but none of them had a later class or work, and we were late getting out there because of the mess with the van. But I got the van returned, and got my own car back, and picked up the copied exams for Friday, and then ran down to the courthouse. There was a small line that formed between the time I drove past (and went "yeah! no line!") and found parking and walked from it. I did have to wait about 15 minutes but I've waited longer than that in the past.

And at any rate, I did the thing. I don't know if anyone I voted for will win (they usually do not, here) but at least I voted, and I thought about that (hopefully tiny) minority of extremely conservative-Christian men who believe the 19th Amendment should be repealed, and thought, as I walked out, "Chew on this, anti-women's suffrage types"

 Yeah, ever since I learned about those guys, I've become more "militant" about voting, in the sense of, going to every election and reading up beforehand so I can make an informed choice. (I find Ballotpedia contains some useful information. I don't think the League of Women Voters has a chapter here, at any rate I've never seen one of their guides here - when I was a kid, they used to be *included with the local newspaper* like a week before election day; a couple years we were encouraged to look at them and bring them in for Social Studies and we discussed things like civics and voting.

I've heard some people talk about "not liking" early voting, that it's some how "more special" on the actual day of. But when you're a busy person? it's really nice to be able to pick a free afternoon, and know there will be less of a line to stand in, and just have the relief of "I got my vote in"

Anyway, now I don't have to think about it. I am going to try NOT to watch the returns come in next week; it's kind of stressful and I will find out on the next day (the biggest race here I think is governor, at least that's the one I've seen the most news stories about the candidates)