Remain calm; it’s almost over …….

As I write this, our country’s on the brink of what some would have you believe is the most important election ever.

That’s probably a bit of an overstatement, but it will be interesting to see what happens come Wednesday.

No matter which side of the aisle you cling to, the bottom line is that we all – at least those of us who actually vote – can only hope that what happens is for the good of the nation we so dearly love.

It’s certain that, in so many ways, tomorrow’s just another day and most of our lives go on, we each do the best we can to get by and we hope everyone around us will be okay.

I do my best to avoid talking about politics because the topic’s become such a quagmire of ill will. All you have to do is watch a handful of political ads on TV to realize mud-slinging has reached an epic level from top to bottom.

One of the best things about getting past tomorrow is that all those horrible ads will stop.

All I want, and I’m sure most of you would agree, is that the basic good nature of humanity will win and we’ll get on with trying to make the world a better place.

That’s been reflected in the past month with all the volunteers and heroes who have sprung into action in the North Carolina mountains to help save people they don’t even know.

Meanwhile, each of us has our own personal priorities, whether it be, for example, taking care of a relative or friend who might be sick or just getting through all the necessary stepping stones of our lives so that we can see another sunrise.

We’re told that we might actually have a little bit of rain tomorrow after a month of drought locally, which will be a boon to the gardeners among us.

The climate hereabouts has been something of a rollercoaster, with up-and-down temperature swings that, thankfully, haven’t been too extreme.

But the thing is that no matter how much the negativism of politics has tried to beat us all down, the fact that you’re able to read these words and have that cup of coffee and get outside and do what you need to do is an accomplishment, isn’t it?

I’ve always been a believer in the fact that, ultimately, good will conquer evil and things will work out if we just get our minds in the right place and keep moving forward.

And that’s what we’ll do.

Hang in there, y’all.

A sad note, unfortunately …….

Today we learned of the passing of Quincy Jones, one of America’s greatest musical legends.

At the age of 91, he certainly lived a long, productive life that included collaborations with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Michael Jackson, to name only a few.

A multiple Academy Award nominee and winner of 28 Grammy awards, one of his greatest accomplishments had to be helping compose, produce and conductt We Are the World, the song that raised millions for starving children in Ethiopia.

He’ll be missed, but his work will live forever.

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