Get ready-- here it comes

There are few things I dread more than icy roads, bitter cold winds and miserable winter weather (unless of course I don't have to be anywhere or do anything).

But looming on the calendar is the next thing I dread most. ELECTIONS. Our lives are consumed, whether we like it or not, with campaign signs, advertisements and here at the paper, a scrambling for space to spout political rhetoric that is just that -- promises of things that can't and won't happen even if the best of intentions are included in the "all about me" news releases.

As I drove to the work yesterday, through the mountains from my home on the desert floor to the office on the hill, I reveled in the browns, golds and reds of the leaves as they move through the last stages of their Fall metamorphis.

Interspersed among the evergreens, the leaf-bearers showed off the foliage not seen in summer because it's all green, blended together. It was peaceful and it was the picture of a 1,000 words. Some of those words saying, it is almost winter.

It also said, "Coming soon to a tranquil, beautiful corner near you -- a plethora of 'VOTE FOR ME' signs." A person could get rear-ended at the stop signs while trying to read all the information offered to sway the voters.

Mailboxes will be full of fliers and pamphlets, the radio airwaves crammed with soothing voices of promise and television's creative juices will max out with 60-second spots that both slam the opponent and elevate the candidate to near-sainthood.

Yes dear readers -- there is a Santa Claus and there are politicians. Fasten your seatbelt, you are about to get blasted from more than the winter winds. Expect most of this air to be hot.

But take heart, it'll only last a year.