Returns

I barely noticed the end of the school year this spring. Normally, it's a time of frantic activity - writing, reading, grading - followed by a crash into a few blessed days of nothing to do.

But that wasn't the case this year. Between the election, and the Yarn Harlot coming to town, and somewhat light course-load, all the school stuff happened at a more sedate pace. The biggest frantic time was when I had a paper due on the same day I was giving a talk - and I was paying as much attention to Hat Attack as anything else at the time. I didn't take any finals this time, and buying a new car commanded more excitement than the exams I had to grade.

Last night, though - last night I had that "just took my last final" feeling, with a sense of relief and tension that I haven't felt since I was an undergrad. After starting the day at 5:00, I spent the evening at the county office building watching the election returns roll in, and the night at a coffee house doing the same thing.

Fortunately, I had a handy way to deal with some of the tension. Sometimes it's great to be a knitter.

My "Audacity" sock didn't get much attention over the course of the day. I spent the first few hours standing outside a polling place with an "Obama" sign, and then canvassed door-to-door in the late morning, before going to work through the afternoon. I waved to a lot of people and bade them a cheerful "good morning," and got mostly smiles in return - although there were a few scowls, or people who tried to avoid looking at me. None of them had bumper stickers, so I don't know if they were supporting another candidate, or just thought I was completely crazy. I got in a few hours of knitting while watching the returns, so now it's starting to look like a sock.

Tomorrow I'm going to sleep in. Tomorrow I'm going to clean house. Tomorrow I'm going to wash dishes. Tomorrow, I might not even knit.

Friday, however, is the kickoff to Sock Wars - and soon it's time to gear up for the general election. But I'm not going to think about that tomorrow. Well, not unless I have to go to the yarn store, to stock up on Tofutsies.