Today's Point of Light...

It has been a wearying week.

I've apparently produced much confirmation for certain teenagers, that I am in fact their village's idiot. It seems that in my effort to hold firm to my maternal ground, I have worn myself into a rut. Oy. Is it fair to abandon my secret count of days until the darlings are unleashed on the world, in all their complete wisdom and glory, in favor of counting the days until I get to completely spoil the dickens out of THEIR children???? At least pondering the idea helps me keep my sense of humor on that count.

It's also been a rocky week at work. See for yourselves here, where a city council member has 'suggested' that our city manager position be eliminated. Nevermind that the current city manager has taken this city from a near-deficit budget to one with a healthy reserve. Also keeping people scurrying has been the little "oops" over at the vineyards where a cart before the horse vision brought about houses before the water. This was all set into motion before I arrived at city hall, but it's sure got people hoppin' now.

My retirement fund is somewhere down here with me in this newfound rut. Guess the upside to that is that it's a good thing that I'm at least 20+ years from retiring. Yeah.

My brother was in and out of the hospital again yesterday. It is excruciating to watch him struggle with the severity of his injuries. He wants so badly to be well. So much so, that he tried eating on Saturday. Solid food. Like cheeseburger solid. He's back on liquids now.

I am haunted by the fact that there is someone on the loose who would do such harm to another human being, especially one I love so much. It makes me think about the many violent and grizzly things that have happened this year-- the beating and death of Travis Lee Smith, the suicide of Victoria Sherman-- Shasta County inmate, the several teenagers who have been severely beaten without provocation at Lake Redding/Caldwell park, the double-murder-suicide of Kenneth Allred, Patricia Haggard and Nancy Bosley, all to name a few.

These incidences are NOT OKAY. Not by a longshot. We need to change some things in our community, maybe even change things about ourselves.

The quiet, bright, beautiful thing I've seen occurring over the past two weeks is this small steady stream of people wandering into city hall inquiring about voter registration. People are excited about the opportunity before us this election season. Change is in the air, and people are ready to do something about it. We may not all be able to do big things to make this a better place, but few would argue that we can all do some small thing to bring on the light.

Monday, October 20th is the last day to register to vote in California's general election on November 4th. Voter registration cards can be found at most post offices, the DMV, and the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters, located in the south end of the Downtown Mall in Redding.

It's one small thing. And it's one big deal. It's your voice. It's your choice.