Absentees

One of the unwritten rules of our Sabbaticals here in Atlantic Beach is that the television is never turned on.  We can go outside on the dune-top deck in the evenings - which we did a few weeks ago to view an especially spectacular full moon - and look back at the condo building, where there might be ten or twelve occupied units with lights on.  And in  most of those units, we can see the bluish glow of televisions.  The house next to the condos in Island Quay was occupied two weeks ago for a few days, and I could actually watch what was showing on the huge flat-screen mounted on the wall.  "Come out and look at the moon!" we felt like shouting.  "Listen to the ocean!"

We have broken the unwritten rule more times this year than we ever have in the past, watching many hours of the Impeachment Hearings and, as far as I can remember, four debates between a narrowing field of Democratic candidates.  We have also spent some time watching Democratic Primary coverage in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.  As I have said before in this blog, we feel that it is our civic duty to stay informed as we approach what will surely be the most important Presidential election in our lifetime.  Next Tuesday - "Super Tuesday" - voters in North Carolina will go to the polls.  We prepared for this by applying for and receiving in the mail Absentee Ballots, which we completed yesterday.  They do not make it easy to be an Absentee Voter - we had to mark our ballots before a notary public (First Citizens Bank obliged) and have it postmarked before March 3.

It felt very good to vote, and believe me I did not do so lightly!  I tried to base my decision not on "electability," or who would be mostly likely to defeat Donald Trump (whom I consider to be the worse and most dangerous President we have ever had), but simply who I think will be the best President for this country.  When we delivered our ballots to the Post Office, we both felt a sense of relief.

It was one of those warm, cloudy days that we often see here on the coast, when rain will suddenly begin to fall gently, then dissipate.  Martha completed a five-mile tempo run this morning, while I ran some short intervals at the Fort Macon Picnic Area.  The fragrance of the Christmas trees lying in a big heap next to the parking lot, waiting to be placed on the beach to prevent erosion, was especially lovely in the heavy humid air.  We stopped at Blue Ocean seafood market for some more of that delicious flounder - see last Thursday's post - and Martha prepared it for us in the same simple way, seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed.  The sides were tomato gratin from Friendly Market and tiny potatoes and onions roasted in the oven.

"It won't look good in the photo," Martha said.  "If it was served in a restaurant, it would have some colorful vegetables or some parsley on the plate."  But I thought it was one of the best dinners we have had here this year, and so I have posted it here anyway - without a fancy drizzle of bright green wasabi aioli or a vegetable cut to look like a flower - to whet the appetite of my blog readers.