the cinnamon peeler's wife

fall break has officially begun! unfortunately, i feel like it is the same old, same old. anyway this weekend i came back to little ole west chester, ohio to visit my parents. my mom was having a party on saturday, so i also came to help out. i guess i haven't spent much time around west chester since i graduated from high school.

on saturday morning, my dad and i spent some time driving around west chester. it was just like i remembered: people up early working in their lawns and the soccer fields packed with kids and minivans. our backyard had turned all those blazing colors of fall and the leaves were falling fast.

but as i drove around, all i saw were bush/cheney signs and i mean everywhere! big signs, little signs, car signs, buttons, everything bush and bush-related. so much has been made about ohio being a swing state, but down here in small town ohio, there is no swinging, just strong bush support. our neighbors have four bush signs in their lawn! four, i mean, we get it, you like bush! so i probably counted over a hundred bush signs in just a few hours this morning. i saw exactly 3 kerry signs! one was in the beloved lawn of mr. gingrich- the 7th grade world history teacher, of course! the world needs to listen to junior high history teachers!

this last week, west chester had a personal visit from the beloved president. it was the largest bush rally of his campaign with close to 50,000 people! they closed down our main street and let out school early! definitely no swinging around here!
("It's fitting that George Bush's visit is causing students to miss school," said Brendon Cull, a Kerry campaign spokesman. "George Bush has spent the past four years making it harder for Ohio's students to get a quality education." -Cincinnati Post)

i mentioned that we should put a kerry sign in our lawn, but from our neighbor's reaction, you would think i had said a bad word.

on a side note, i was dispatched to the grocery store to pick up stuff for the party. it is a normal suburban warehouse club type place with good produce. maybe i should not have been shocked, but the whole time i did not see one non-white face. i looked for a shade of brown, a little black, maybe someone half-asian. nope not one, in a huge store, not even a cashier. i felt like all the eyes were boring a hole in my back. how did i grow up here? i mean i can't walk down high street without tumbling over half a dozen foreigners. now i remember there was a reason i left dead (i mean, west) chester. note to self: do not move back here.