there were lots of nice moments. like bantering with alyssa (my currently-accessible friend of longest standing?) over fry mix and my actually-medium-rare burger at good dog.

and confiding to tara, only after office meeting/announcements, that it was my birthday, simply since she was the only one who bothered ask why i had brought in a cake.

and taking a five-hour stroll (hike, really), through a particularly gorgeous slice of rural-suburbia, in middletown, among deer and dogs and fall foliage and unconscionably huge houses that veered from tasteful to tacky. interesting to note subtle but distinct shifts in character of the various neighborhoods i passed through.

it might have been different if it were just another in a slew of long days doing this, but being my almost first it was not at all an unpleasant way to spend the time. although i didn't get to canvass the set of twenty-four-year-old triplets (surprise, they'd moved out of the house) or any of the folks on laura lynn lane (gee, wonder who they would've supported), or the best-named person on my list - kerry bushey - i did have a bunch of nice interactions. i'm definitely not pushy enough (yet) with the undecided folks, but i try to do what i can to help them.

as it got too dark to see mailbox numbers without a flashlight, the houses seemed to get sparser and harder to find, and i only managed to talk to a small handful of folks in the last hour or so. but it was okay because i sang to myself in between doors (most of armed forces and …highway strip). and the last house i went to was the best - a beautifully remodelled former barn which was full of all sorts of instruments, including a wall of many funky guitars - the guy who lived there used to be in a big philly punk band, and now does a lot of recording, and his wife was very friendly and enthusiastic about volunteering. then i took a wrong turn and missed a bunch of houses, but that was a good one to end on.

after, we met at iron hill (of all places) to watch the debate and hang out for a while. they cut up and served my cheesecake, and a guy who was just there watching (with) us bought us all a round of drinks, as an "indirect contribution." i won a game of cutthroat pool with jeremy and diane, though not through any particular skill. i can feel myself starting to become friends with these people, and that's a really nice thing that hasn't happened in a while. birthdays are about anticipation as much as reckoning; why not celebrate with future friends instead of past?

nothing's gonna touch me in these golden years