Thwarted, though we had the best of intentions.
Yesterday, Don suggested we go vote in the morning and then treat ourselves to blueberry pancakes at our local eatery. I was immediately onboard with that one!
So we got ready, headed out the door about 10 am and went to our local voting place. It wasn’t open. We tried another possible location. Nothing. While we were doing all of this, we ran into a couple of people who were also doing the same thing. Finally, we checked with the guy who runs our local eatery (it’s where Don has performed in the past) and who is a former Town Supervisor.
The polls don’t open until noon, he said.
What??
We were shocked, to say the least. In various discussions during the course of the day, we found out that lots of people in this area were upset that the polls were open from 12 -9, effectively eliminating the possibility of voting in the morning hours. Somehow I got it in my head that this was new. We’ve lived here almost 11 years and have never encountered this before. Turns out it isn’t new, that primaries have weird hours for most of the counties in New York State, except for Buffalo and NYC and some counties that immediately surround the city.
Don’t get me started. Why would they do something that would make it more difficult to vote? People who work a split-shift, for example, would find it very hard to get to the polls. People who work long hours and can only vote from 6 -8 am. The list is endless. I don’t know why this was put in place but it’s ridiculous. I’ve voted in all the primaries since we moved here so I can only guess that I voted in the afternoon and had no idea there was anything strange about the hours.
So, we ate breakfast before, rather than after, voting. And then we drove around to kill some time, ending up at our local antique barn.
Ummm….that might not have been such a great idea.
I ended up coming home with these:
A beautiful mid-century modern bowl by Russel Wright. There was an almost-entire set of this pattern for sale, which I loved, but I could only afford one piece. This is part of his American Modern line of dinnerware. It was manufactured between 1939 and 1959 by Steubenville Pottery – based in Ohio. He also designed in Melmac. I’ve been to his home, Manitoga, in Garrison, NY – which is just across the river from us and very near to our former rental cottage. He was a set designer before he began industrial design and also designed furniture.
Russel Wright also has the same name as my grandfather, though he spelled it as Russell. Everyone called him Russ or Slim. So I’ve always felt a connection to these designs and I don’t see them very often. This chartreuse color is one of my favorites. And it has my grandfather’s name on the bottom!
There’s the mark. There’s a pitcher that I would love to have and I saw two of them in the shop. Wouldn’t a mini set of Russel Wright be perfect for the TSP?
I also grabbed this:
An egg cup. This is from a line called Cottage Ware made by Price Kensington Potteries in England in the 1940s. There’s a photo of this egg cup in my Egg Cup reference book. I’ve never seen one on my antique shop visits, so I grabbed it.
The other side, which happens to be my favorite.
After all of this shopping and eating and voting, we came home and mowed the front lawn for the first time this year. The grass was already so long that it would have been impossible to mow it if we had left it any longer.
The smell of new mown grass. Wonderful.
I have to travel to Hartford again on Friday to do some coaching on Anastasia, which as it happens, is going to Broadway sometime in the 2016-2017 season. That’s good news for Darko and Hartford Stage.
Happy Wednesday.
The title of the post made me laugh because I so get it!! I love the Russel Wright designs. I admire his dishes all the time. I bought something in chartreuse the other day at my Antique mall. It sometimes amazes me how alike we can be. Love the egg cup!! So cute and unusual.
I think our whole voting system needs an overhaul.
hugs,
Linda
I do, too. It’s not working and citizens are not getting the chance to vote.
I laughed at your title too but I thought it would be a great title for a book. Your new treasures are nice. Sounds like you had a fun and busy day. Hope today is good too.
I’m going to do a little more work outside, Doris.
Don’t even get me started, the voting here in Maricopa county was insane. Some “rocket scientist” decided to close most of the polling places for primaries . This effectively had some people waiting for 5 hours to vote and some were still in line after the polls closed making their votes null and void. They also closed every single polling place in Sun City which is a huge retirement community, making it very difficult at best for seniors to get out and vote. Insanity I tell you.
I’ve been to Sun City – I cannot imagine what a pain it would be for seniors to find another place to vote. It’s ridiculous!
That’s the first I’ve heard of different hours for polling locations during a primary. Our polls – for any election – open by 7 a.m. and (I believe) are open till 8 p.m. Crazy! But, at least you had some fun (and blueberry pancakes too!). Love your Russel Wright piece – gorgeous.
I know – why would the primary have different hours than any other election?
Our country has certainly grown, and the demographics have definitely changed, yet we use election “laws” which were put in place decades and decades ago. As we know, most politicians are seldom open to change of any kind. So it seems this will only become more and more of a problem in the years ahead, because finding a solution seems to be equated with giving-in or compromising in some way. We know that will NEVER happen. ugh.
Love your finds. That color is amazing!
You do know that some elected official somewhere would spin your experience to explain to us that the voting situation you had actually helps the economy. Again,,,,, ugh.
Something is very wrong when citizens do not get to vote – over 120,000 voters had disappeared from the Brooklyn voter rolls yesterday. What?? It’s insane.
I promised myself I would not get angry today and raise my blood pressure, so I am keeping my lips zipped about the voting situation :-) My Mom had a complete set of Russel Wright pottery when she was a new bride. It was during her contemporary design phase. She sold it all when she switched over to Early American. I could cry and have. Love your new piece!
Love From Soggy Texas,
Susan and Bentley
I would cry, too, Susan!
We went on a tour of houses in Houston Sunday and I so wanted to take a picture of a collection of McCoy for you, but photography wasn’t allowed.
I have ten Russel Wright dinner plates in chartreuse — used them just last night –love your bowl.
I love that chartreuse! It’s such a great color!
I love the coloring of that bowl…it’s electric! It shouldn’t be this hard to vote! Our polls open at 7:00 am here across the state I believe….but with this voter ID requirement….it’s been difficult for some. The republicans changed the law, and because they are in control, they did very little to instruct people on the proper type of ID….it was left up to individual groups and the democrats to inform people! So wrong! I think I better go dig in the dirt to get rid of my frustration! ;)
I felt that way yesterday. So, so frustrating!
Oh, the Russel Wright by Steubenville!
I was SO happy over the weekend to find two pieces at thrift stores in Reno.
They didn’t know what it was, obviously – and luckily for me!
Seriously – a gravy boat for $1.19 and a plate for 99 cents – I couldn’t put them into my basket fast enough! I only have a few, but I do treasure them.
What a great deal! Lucky you!
Most people are very surprised when they first find out how different voting in a primary or midterm election can be. I certainly was. A friend of mine was with the League of Women Voters for several decades when we were younger and told me that polling station hours are OFTEN reduced – in MANY states – for these type of elections because turn-out is SO much lower for them – and it simply wasn’t necessary to have people manning the stations for 15 hours a day, the way they are, usually, for Presidential elections. Historically VERY few people vote in primaries and mid-terms. And when you consider how pitiful the numbers often are even in Presidential years, it makes some sense. But I do think there needs to be a Federal standard for elections, since lately certain states – who shall remain nameless – are making things much more difficult for certain groups of their own citizens – and which is clearly not playing fair. The most obvious change, IMO, and one that should be easy to accomplish, should be moving Election Day to a Saturday. This seems long overdue to me… ??
Yes, there should be a standard set for every state – consistency everywhere. I know that turnout is historically low, but since these elections happen rarely, I would think they could put out the extra effort to keep hours that are inclusive for all voters. It’s not like these things are happening every month, for heaven’s sake!
Saturday should be the day, for sure. It makes perfect sense.
Love your new pottery discoveries/buys. The chartreuse color is marvelous. I don’t vote at the polls anymore, as I signed up to be an absentee voter and get my ballot by mail. However, I don’t think polls open so late in my area.
They probably should be, as some people can’t get there until later in the evening. Let’s face it – they should probably be open from at least 7 am until 8 or 9 pm. So many differences in hours!
Polls in California, including my area, generally open at 7 am and close around 8 pm. The problem being on the West Coast is that many national results are already being predicted by the time people get off work and go to vote. If a national candidate or proposition standing is leading by a huge margin, I understand that many Californians don’t bother to vote. That’s too bad, since I believe everyone should exercise their right to vote.
Oh I know! I used to hate that they were predicting the winner before I even got to the polls when I lived in California. So, so frustrating. You feel like you’re not really part of the the election.
Oh, I love your vintage finds! I never, ever see egg cups; I always look for you when I’m in a secondhand store. I wouldn’t know what an egg cup even was, were it not for you and showing us your vast collection of them. I’ve been ignorant on the subject (not a cook, I confess). I guess when I grew up, the only way I knew to cook/eat eggs was scrambling, hard-boiling or frying them.
My husband has, on several occasions, volunteered to be an elections officer. This is a guy who never even takes a sick day from work, but he’ll take time off to man the polling places and it sure ain’t for the money. (This is why he has shocked me by saying this is the year he won’t vote because he’s so dismayed/uninspired by most/all who are running for office [I know he’ll change his mind].) Anyway, being an officer has always meant long days which also includes preparation ahead of the big event. I believe our SoCalif polls open at 7am and close at 8pm. When I worked outside the home, going in the morning before the start of work was the only part of my day I could control, to make sure I got in my voting. So, I can’t imagine the hardship for some people not being able to vote until noon. I should mention that in the times my husband has been an elections officer, his day started at 6am (setup) and the work didn’t end til like 9:30 pm or so; he’d be lucky if he was home by 10pm.
I know all those who help at the polls have long hours and I salute them. I think polls should be open from 7 am to at least 8 pm. It’s only once every few years, and well worth it if it gets everyone to the polls.
I don’t cook a whole lot either but I did have eggs in egg cups when I was a kid. Maybe it’s because of my British ancestors?
Good question. I am largely British all the way on my maternal side (Mom to her mom to HER mother and so on) but, alas, we were deprived in my generation of the morning ceremony of eating eggs from egg cups! I had a working mom and, bless her, she took some shortcuts in the juggle. We ate a lot of Jello with fruit for dessert. Summer lunch for us kids was usually served on paper plates. But one thing to this day that I cannot do is drink anything out of a paper or plastic cup! The only thing good in those things was their ‘form’ as the receptacle for a homemade fruit-juice popsicle in the freezer!
My Canadian grandmother kept all British traditions alive, Vicki.
Sounds like a fun day out despite the mix up in voting hours…I have some Russel Wright pink dishes in storage…I should get them out for another look…what a sweet addition to your egg cup collection Claudia…Darko and all of you involved..should be so proud…
Thanks, Nancy!
I love that pottery find. Gorgeous. I’m on a succulent kick right now, so I’d probably fill it with those. Though it’s beautiful on its own.
Have not mowed here yet, though it’ll be coming soon. Our yard is mostly weed-filled anyway, as we won’t use chemical weed killer.
We don’t either. We don’t use anything chemical on our plants or our lawn.
We don’t even go to the polls anymore. All of our elections are by mail and have been for over 10 years. I miss going to the polls, there’s just something about it that makes me feel part of something bigger than myself. Although I know mailed ballots make things much easier for many people, it just isn’t the same.
I trimmed bushes today but didn’t get them all done. Dennis will mow after dinner tonight. I, too, love to smell fresh mown grass.
Blessings,
Betsy
Is it that way throughout your state, Betsy?