Nothing like an Eric Cantor defeat …

to improve your mood.

Yes, I know a Tea Party guy beat him and yes, I know it doesn't look good for the general election in November. That district (VA-07) is heavily Republican and has been gerrymandered to make it, um, mostly white. There's no other way to say it.

So the Democratic challenger – an unknown colleague of Cantor's primary opponent – has his work cut out for him.

Which means Virginia Democrats also have their work cut out for them.

Last night, though, when I first heard the news, I was grinning from ear to ear, and the only thing raining on my parade was rain.

Real rain. Lots of it. Good-for-the-garden rain. More than half an inch!

So the November elections in next-door Virginia just got verrrrry interesting. I'm hoping we'll learn that lots of Democrats crossed over to vote against Cantor and will go back in November to turn VA-07 BLUE. (Virginia voters enjoy open primaries.)

If that's not how it happened, this country is in worse trouble than I thought, because it shows just how polarized we are. And it will be a long time before we come to our senses. When Hillary takes the oath in 2016, all the racists will turn into sexists. If the House is still controlled by Republicans, she will face the same obstructionism my President has had to deal with.

It won't be pretty.

Wrapping up the work week

Today's my last day to transport the little Amish girls to and from their school. It's been a lot of fun for me and yesterday they told me I'm more interesting than their regular driver, who "doesn't talk much." Heehee.

Each afternoon I ask what the best part of their day was. They're preparing for a Christmas program, and each day they've said, "Practicing for the program!" Each child in the school will sing one or more songs and recite a poem and a Bible verse. The entire Amish community attends the presentation, which is held the day before Christmas.

The children get Christmas Day off from school, but go back the very next day. No extended winter break for these kids. But their school year is shorter, ending in April, than the public school schedule  around here.

Thanks to those of you who weighed in on my minimum-wage post. I appreciate your thoughts. I also meant to add that many, many, MANY minimum-wage (or less) workers I see are definitely not teen-agers. In fact, many times they are much older than I am. Maybe they're working just to keep busy, but I doubt it.

HOPEFULLY today is the last day we'll have a work crew here trying to fix our water issue. Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday. It's always good to know I'm not alone in my despair. Misery loves company – an excellent reason to blog!

But life is not all misery.

Lately life has been almost all knitting. I got the Pretty Comfy knee socks done, wrapped and shipped yesterday. I had to print out blocking instructions and tuck them into the package, because hand-knit socks really need blocking before they're presented. But blocking means soaking in water. And water, AS YOU KNOW, is kind of a premium item around the Middle of Nowhere these days. Also, I wouldn't have had time to block AND dry them, so they got sent as is, right off the needles.

My granddaughter wears the same shoe size I do, but she's quite petite. The socks fit me with a bit of stretching over the calves, so I think they'll be perfect for her. I hope she likes them, but as I learned with the sister gift, it's best not to have high expectations. Especially when it's a teen and a hand-knit gift.

(My sister lives more in the Middle of Nowhere than I do – no Indian markets nearby. No internet access either. OH WELL. I gave her suggestions and she knows how to cook. End of that story.)

I started a pair of Felted Clogs for my daughter-in-law last night. I lost my pattern, but was more than willing to shell out for a replacement which is now available as a download that I can store forever in Dropbox. It takes about six knitting hours to complete these, plus felting and drying time. I'm visiting with my son and his family after Christmas, so – depending on the water situation – I should have plenty of time to felt and dry them.

And more not-misery: President Obama is commuting the sentences of eight inmates who have served way too much time for minor roles in crack-cocaine cases. One is Clarence Aaron, who was the subject of a PBS Frontline piece in 1999. He received three life sentences for introducing a dealer to a buyer. Here's his story.

Through my volunteer work at a federal prison camp I've met many women who are serving time imposed under the unfair mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Those laws are being reformed and even being made retroactive, but the wheels of justice turn slowly. I'm so very happy for the eight whose sentences are being commuted. According to Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), however, there are several thousand still waiting.

FAMM rightly points out that while President Obama has the power to pardon or commute sentences, only Congress can change the laws. There are SO MANY reasons to vote for candidates who believe in upholding human rights instead of restricting them.

The next election cycle has already begun here in West Virginia. We're being bombarded with a mixture of holiday shopping and negative campaign ads on television. We Democrats could win big – it's possible we could take all three seats in Congress and the open Senate seat. I hope all this early campaigning doesn't lead to apathetic voters next November.

I guess it's up to me – and you, if you live in West Virginia – to make sure that doesn't happen.

T-minus two hours (give or take) before the work crew arrives. Water by the end of the day is the goal. Film at eleven.

A pretty perfect day

Yesterday turned out to be super, weather-wise, and super event-wise as well. We could have had a better turnout, but WV's future Senator made quite a splash, both on the train trip to Hinton and once she got to town.

For those of you who don't know, Hinton used to be a railroad town. My husband remembers the railroad heydays here, and his mother remembers taking trips to Washington, DC, on trains pulled by steam engines. Hinton still has a depot and trains run through here all the time, mostly carrying coal. Passenger trains come and go only a couple times a week.

Hinton's Railroad Days are two weekends celebrating the town's railroad heritage. A passenger train arrives both days of both weekends, from Huntington, WV, with passengers from West Virginia and several surrounding states. We meet a lot of folks from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Natalie Tennant rode the train into town, but left by car for another campaign event in Beckley, just north of Hinton. She was here for a good three hours, giving her stump speech at Democratic Headquarters and then meeting and greeting folks in the downtown area with a group of supporters.

Granted, people visiting Democratic headquarters are going to be like-minded, but we were pleased at how much support Natalie has here in southern West Virginia. Especially when you read stories like this one, which links our southern counties to the rest of the red-state South.

Today is the last day of this year's event. The next year will be a busy one as we work to elect Natalie Tennant to the seat Jay Rockefeller will be vacating. We here in Summers County also will be working to keep Third District Congressman Rahall in Congress, as he faces a tough challenger next year.

Yes, it seems like campaigning is 24/7/365, thanks to cable news and the internets. But legislators clearly can "accomplish" something – they managed to shut down the government entirely for nearly three weeks. I'm not willing to put anyone back in office who voted for that lame-brained, damaging and wasteful scheme.

I hope you're not either.