The zinnias are still blooming. The morning glories are still blooming. One of my rose bushes is still blooming. And the moonflowers are getting ready to bloom again. Every evening I go outside to see if a flower has opened, and if it hasn’t I check again when I first get up. Not yet. But they’re coming.

And there are leaves everywhere. The maples are dropping leaves like crazy. We haven’t begun the raking process, because why bother? There will be more leaves on the ground almost immediately. We’ll wait a bit.

Far from my favorite thing to do.

Yesterday was a tough one; mourning for my dad on his birthday, sinus problems, not enough sleep. But I tackled bill paying and that sort of thing and we finished watching the entire Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series. We absolutely loved it. Excellent direction, design, acting – everything was pitch perfect.

I feel a post coming on about sexism – subtle and not-so-subtle – in this election. I’ve been focusing on the words that (mostly) male interviewers and pundits use when evaluating or discussing the female candidate for President. It’s really eye opening. Even pundits who I generally agree with and respect often fall prey to it. I don’t even know if they are consciously aware of it. Probably not. But it’s there.

Whatever your political views, being the first female candidate for President of the United States requires an extremely high level of bravery and steely fortitude in the face of the rampant sexism that lurks everywhere. Some of it is overt – but much of it is ingrained in our population. And it’s not limited to men.

Don and I have talked about it quite a bit.

I will say this. I am a proud feminist. My husband is a feminist. And when I see some millennials disparage or discount feminism, I want to shake them. If they don’t see the need for feminism (which frankly, boggles my mind because there is still such a glaring disparity in terms of pay and rights for women), but if they don’t  see that disparity in their lives as working women – wonderful. They can thank the feminists who came before them for that. And they’d better hope that a forward-thinking candidate is elected President because those gains could disappear all too quickly.

I once read a post by a blogger that infuriated me. She wrote that she didn’t think “Christian” women should be feminists. This was from someone who had gone to medical school and become a doctor. She was no longer practicing medicine, but no matter. The very fact that she was able to attend medical school came about because of the tireless work of feminists (both men and women) who knocked and knocked and knocked until those doors were finally opened. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

That the male candidate for President constantly talks about women in sexist terms is not open for debate. But I see it in others, as well.

There’s nothing like an election in which a woman could actually become the President to show us that a lot of work still needs to be done.

Hey, I guess I wrote a mini-post about it. More, I think, will come later.

Happy Thursday.