The suspense is not yet over. Who might have imagined that the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election would be dragging on for so long? It's a situation that perhaps might not have occurred had the entire country be governed by a single election-processing body overseeing conformity in the process instead of having each state and territory mount their participation in the general election with their very own state-specific rules and regulations. The end result is controversy galore. Not that controversy given this very partisan election would be entirely avoided, but perhaps a little more clarity in procedural norms.

We're curious, looking in from the outside, just as most other people are, wondering when it will end, feeling sympathetic to those for whom this wait is excruciating. It appears a given at this late date that a new president will occupy the White House come January. But on the way to that occasion there is little doubt that much will occur to further infuriate supporters of each of the parties that exemplify the polarizing issues and events that wrack the United States at the present.

We slept in this morning; correction, I did. When I do occasionally, my husband listens to National Public radio on one of his transistor radios that is able to capture the signal. So that when I awake finally, he informs me of what has been happening. I can recall that happening four years ago when I was speechless with incredulity as he informed me that yes, Donald Trump won the election against Hilary Clinton. Not that we have personally any stake in who directs the affairs of our direct continental neighbour to the south but we do watch closely such events and it was our opinion that the two candidates were both flawed, each of them less suitable than should be expected for a world leader, but Mr.Trump seemed by far the more improbable of the two. 

For four years the world watched agape as open nepotism, corruption in taking advantage of position to further business interests, unsavoury past revelations of an uncouth personality, and combustible denunciations of global relationships roiled the United States as the population became increasingly divided over domestic issues. There were previous administrations whose inappropriate and ill-thought-out decision-making impacted the world community, and how the president of the day and the country he led were viewed abroad. One thinks of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and even Barack Obama; one of whom led a weak administration, the other a questionable moral character, and one utterly failing to live up to possibly improbable standards of astute decision-making.

Gives us much to muse over, and to discuss in our conversations, whether in bed, building up the momentum to decide to finally meet the morning head on, or in casual conversation with others, all of whom appear to share a universal opinion on who should go on to lead the United States into the near future of COVID, internal social unrest, and handling the world's trouble spots which has always been America's strength. 

After breakfast my husband headed downstairs to his workshop to continue yet another project he's involved with that will take him through the winter months to complete. Over the years he has assembled a range of tools, both hand-tools and electric, and he depends on them for many uses. He enjoys working with wood, fashioning items, designing things, carrying those designs through to completion.

For my part, it's the kitchen that draws me primarily and Friday is one of those days of the week when I plan to bake something a little different to close out our Friday night dinner. I usually also prepare a bread dough to be refrigerated, so the dough can be used in a variety of ways from pizza to dinner rolls throughout the week. Today, for a change I baked a lattice-topped berry pie, a filling of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, frozen in a pouch, to which I add sugar, cornstarch and cranberry juice to simmer into a thick filling. I usually use a pottery pie dish that our younger son made for me decades ago.

In the mid-afternoon we accompanied Jackie and Jillie for a leisurely hike through the ravine on another superb fall day. We've left the numbing cold behind temporarily, stuck in a high-pressure zone of dry warmth that is set to linger, we've been promised, for much of the rest of the week and on into the first few days of next week. Because it was so warm at 17C, no sweaters for the puppies, and off we went, strolling up the street and veering off into the ravine.

Where poplars predominate the forest floor is now covered with dried foliage rapidly turning dark dirty-grey, nothing like the glorious golds and yellows when they first came down. And where there are many maples in other areas of the forest, colour still remains, with patches of dusty-red stubbornly retaining some brightness amongst the pale yellow of the birch leaves.

The sun struggled to burst its way out of the low cloud ceiling, and from time to time managed to find a niche for itself before disappearing again. It's notable that all the thriving green vegetation that normally crowds the forest floor is now entirely absent, absorbed back into the soil to await another spring's wake-up call. The oldest of the wild apple trees, now completely denuded of its foliage, thrusts its bare limbs in every direction as though to call them back home again.

On the rotting old crotch of another elderly tree, a tiny green apple nestles that may or may not be enjoyed at some time by wildlife during the scarce food-resourcing months ahead. While Jackie and Jillie were absorbed in the panoply of fascinating odours delivering their canine messages, my husband and I continued our conversations focusing on the tension to our south, the uncertainty of future protests turning into riots, and the final culmination of the heatedly-contested race for a new occupant of the American seat of power.