A Few Short Notes

We've been much warmer than usual for the month of October - it was breezy yesterday afternoon with highs in the 80s; today it was in the mid-70s, but it was downright windy (with gusts up to 63 mph).  The bat decorations broke loose this morning, but we caught them before they flew away.  Have had to fold up and place all other balcony items inside - but the poor honeysuckle vine has had almost all of its leaves blown off and away...  Due to be cooler the next three days, 60s and 50s, and then return to the 70s for the weekend.  Not true Indian Summer, not a true fall experience, either.
    The thought of Donald Trump as President of the United States scares me.  While the state of Colorado is largely Republican in the rural areas, most of the cities are Democrat.  I was quite surprised yesterday when the local newspaper announced that Donald Trump , Jr was holding a campaign stop/rally on University Hill in Boulder, at a restaurant named The Sink.  It's a pizza parlor and tavern combination - and President Obama stopped there and ate and drank and chatted with the students a few years ago.  The City of Boulder consists of less than an 8% Republican membership.  Why would Trump, Jr decide to stop here?  Well, the owners of The Sink were not told before the announcement of the intended stop.  This morning, Trump, Jr and the campaign office were told that the owner of The Sink did not want to be visited.  This afternoon, Trump, Jr appeared in a venue on Pearl Street - a mile or more away from his chosen spot.
   Today Melania Trump appeared in an interview with Anderson Cooper and declared that Billy Bush had egged her husband on in making his egregious comments about his sexual predatory behavior.  She stated that it was just "boy's locker room talk" and that, while she found his words on the tape offensive, it wasn't "the real man,"  and that he had been led into making all of those remarks in 2005.  I was OK, hearing that statement, but then an announcer stated that Melania Trump was a "very private and shy person."  The Diet Coca-Cola I had just sipped shot out of my nose in astonishment.  This woman, who has exposed every part of her body to photographers, is private and shy?!?  Her photos could be a spread for Slut of the Year, and no one would blink an eye.  (And yet Michelle Obama received abuse for daring to wear a sleeveless dress?!?)  Talk about double standards...
    My other comment  is about Trump's complaint that the election process is rigged.   Was it rigged for Nixon?  Was it rigged for Reagan?  Was it rigged for Gore?  I think NOT.  In the first Presidential debate, Trump said he would accept the voting of the American electorate.  Since then, he has whined that the election is rigged, almost every single day.  Pence, Trump's running mate, says they will accept the vote of the American public.  Paul Ryan, the head of the Republican party, says that the election process is clean and proven.  Trump says the voting is rigged - a month before the election.   Between 2000 and 2014, over 3 billion votes have been cast in thousands of elections.  During that time, only 31 cases of voter fraud have been found - with searches made on all levels of the voting and accounting hierarchy.  I think Trump just doesn't want to accept the fact that he will probably lose on 8 November