Is it over yet?

It's a year of the additional season - the political season, which makes NASCAR's silly season look like sanity.  A couple of thoughts regarding future campaigns:
--a quiet period 36 hours from the closing of the polls.  That means NO television ads, NO print ads, NO rallies or campaign appearances, NO nothing.  Anyone who remains undecided at that point should forfeit their right to vote.  Sorry, elections demand more than the equivalent of deciding between candy bars at the checkout counter.
--enough with the references to faith, church affiliation, and the other religious garb some candidates are determined to be cloaked in.  While 'separation of church and state' is NOT in the Constitution, politics and religion were never meant to be intertwined.  Besides, who can guarantee that the lead tenor in the choir at Antioch Baptist is better qualified than the New Ager or the candidate who happens to be Jewish, Hindu, or pagan? 
--any ad that does nothing but slam the opponent should be required to provide references to fully back its criticism and I mean fully.  No twisted contexts, no half truths, just reality.  I get the point of negative campaigning, but shouldn't I vote FOR you rather than AGAINST your opponent?
--it's a shame that the current representatives of the word have rendered "liberal" a pejorative of the worst kind, but it is comical to watch candidates joust for the conservative label.  Here's a clue - if your history of donations includes giving money to Obama, Kerry, and Edwards, you are not conservative. 
--no Democrat is willing to admit to being one.  In fact, Dems in ALA and GA make a point of referencing how the DON'T side with their party leadership.  If you are going to vote like a Repub, have the decency to run as one.  (Note to Charlie Crist - this applies to opportunists who bailed on the GOP when it became evident they would lose a primary.)

So I met our next door neighbor......

...at 4 o'clock.  In the morning.  Seems Maria (that's my mom) and her dementia thought someone was being held captive in my car.  That someone was my dad.  Who died in February.  She could have walked down the hall and told us about the "problem", but that would have been too easy and a dull story.  So, she went outside to investigate for herself. 

The neighbor is not a big sleeper and the light in her living room drew in mom like the proverbial moth.  What an Asian lady with a pronounced accent was able to say to a Greek woman whose command English is deteriorating is a mystery, but it was enough to convince mom to let the lady walk her back home. 

Her leaving the house was new, time of night notwithstanding, meaning countermeasures were necessary.  After consultations with Homeland Security, the NSA, and a couple of ex-Special Ops contacts, we went with child-proofing tools and physics.  Doorknob covers, a monitor at the front door, and re-arranged furniture to cover the back prevented further escapes, but these remedies mostly served to raise mom's agitation level beyond our ability to manage. 

A couple of near-sleepless nights later (which makes for interesting lecture participation, by the way), we are preparing for another transition, one that involves a place that makes sure there are no late-night jaunts.  It's not what the plan was and, frankly, feels a bit like failure.  On the other hand, we're not medical professionals and this is a disease beyond our ability to control.  Some lucid moments remain but the toughest part is knowing that the present day is the best that person is ever going to be.  Try wrapping your head around that concept.