The other day, we passed an annual milestone. The calendar calls it Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day, but here in Vacationland, it is the traditional end to the summer season. It is the time when our regular summer residents close their cottages and secure their boats as the water district prepares to shut off the summer water service later in the month. The kids are filling up classrooms and sporting fields, and the fans of girls' high school field hockey are cheering their successful season. But traditional traditions are changing. The botanical gardens is getting ready for their uber successful Christmas light show, which brings thousands to our community and hopefully brings customers to our shops and restaurants.

In the old days, few watering holes were open in the winter, except for the Thistle Inn. Can you remember some of the tales from the old Thistle? Do you remember the time old what's-his-name (here insert your favorite name, if you can remember it)? Never mind. They are just happy memories.

In Washington, the bad news is that our brave politicians are again squabbling over power. They shut down the government just to   blame the other side. Their actions will stop the paychecks of thousands of federal workers, including members of our local Coast Guard station. The good news is that our local American Legion post held a bean supper to raise money to help our local Coast Guard service members who are facing paycheck-less paydays. While the bloviating pols are still being paid, our local Coast Guard men and women are not, and they still face car payments. The Coast Guard has always been there for us. This is one way we can repay them.

It is election season again, and we have a chance to weigh in on a key political argument. It is called Question One. Proponents of Q-one want voters to show identification to vote. They also propose a series of changes to the absentee balloting rules. Just for the record, according to an analysis by NPR, the Proponents of Question One are being funded by conservative/Republican groups, while the Opponents are Democrats and other liberal groups. Proponents of Question One claim it will ensure the sanctity of the ballot box and protect our freedoms. Opponents say it is a solution seeking a non-existent problem. They say there have been no problems involving widespread voter fraud. Question One will also place new restrictions on absentee voting. According to an analysis by NPR, 45% of all Maine voters cast absentee ballots. And, for a community like ours, one with lots of grey-haired voters, it could pose a problem. NPR says it found that as many as 60% of all seniors vote absentee. The question would also bar seniors from seeking absentee ballots by phone and prohibit their relatives from ordering an absentee ballot for them.

Once upon a time, when I was wearing a green uniform and serving in a faraway land, my mother went to the county election board and asked them to mail me an absentee ballot. When it arrived, I went to the battalion office, sat behind a screen, and marked my choices. Then I sealed it in an envelope, my commanding officer attested my signature, and I stuffed it in the afternoon mailbag.

Do proponents of Q-one really want to disenfranchise our military members from voting absentee?

No sane citizen wants a rigged election. Sure, we all joke about them, and if you check the historical record, you will find some real doozies. During the Jim Crow era, we saw lots of shenanigans, like folks using poll taxes and other convoluted tests to keep certain citizens from voting. And lest you forget, it was not until the early part of the last century that half of the population was permitted to vote at all.

As an aside, no one knows what to make of the recent alleged report of 250 blank absentee ballot packages delivered to a Newburg resident in an Amazon box that had been re-taped and beaten up. Everyone from the FBI to internet trolls is trying to figure out what that is all about.

In other political news, it looks like Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who is barred from seeking a third term, will seek the Democratic senatorial nomination to oppose Republican Susan Collins, who has managed to stay in office for 30 years.

Let me close this missive with a personal note. My pal, Dick Brooke, left us last week. For years, I was privileged to sit across the bridge table from Dick. I got to know him as a cracker-jack bridge player, a patient golfer, and a skilled sailor. As he bravely battled a laundry list of cancers, he told me of how much he loved his bride, Jackie, and how proud he was of his children and his extended family. Dick Brooke loved his bride, his family, his friends, and his country.  He was a good and decent man. RIP old pal.