Things you learn when early voting

Virtue signaling!

We had planned to vote on election day, keeping a decades-long tradition of sauntering in to the polling place, signing in with a long-unseen neighbor, marking our ballot, and churning it through the ballot counter.  In the olden days, the kids would come with us, squeeze into the the little desk space with one of us, and watch as checked the boxes, drew the connecting lines, or filled in the dots. During the primaries in September this year, we were numbers one (me) and three Tom (someone got between him and me while he checked his ballot for the fifth time). We worried about mailing our ballots because of all the angst being strewn about reporting on lost or purloined ballots as well as reports of drop boxes being set on fire.  We saw an ad in the daily Gazette that the local senior center was hosting early voting (100 generous hours) and we decided to vote that way. We really wanted to get it over, cast our votes, pick up our stickers, and wear them proudly. So we did.

Medlar

The senior center has a small tree by the parking lot that I had noticed a year before, when we were there for a lecture. It has an odd-shaped fruit, and this year I took a photo and submitted it to iNaturalist, figuring it was too odd  or exotic for it to recognize. But lo and behold - it came up right away with the suggestion that it was a medlar. This was the first thing I learned on my voting morning – this fruit + this tree  =  medlar.

The leathery-looking fruit is actually edible, but not right away; its insides become sweet and appealing only after the fruit is bletted.  Bletted? A new word, and the second thing I learned this morning. Spellcheck doesn't even recognize that word. To blet is to let a fruit ripen after picking. First, the medlar fruit needs a hard frost. Next, it needs to sit around in a cool place to continue ripening, allowing the sugar content to increase, and the acid and tannin content to decrease. "If the fruit is wanted it should be left on the tree until late October and stored until it appears in the first stages of decay; then it is ready for eating . . . The taste of the sticky, mushy substance has been compared to sweet dates and dry applesauce, with a hint of cinnamon." It apparently is an ideal  companion to wine. (ref: Wikipedia)

I read this information to Tom as we drove home, where we were not greeted by the dog.When we leave, he always puts on a convincing display of sorrow and longing. but when we come back, there he is, in classic Niko style, in a restful snooze, barely acknowledging our reentrance.

PS: The third thing I learned just now: There is no official spelling for spellcheck/spell check/spell-check; they are all alike to the grammar police.