Filling out the 2020 ballot is like taking the most difficult test ever. Even with a cheat sheet.

Bit by bit, I studied the state ballot items and the Denver ballot items. And I went online to learn more. That ballot? What a plump one – but I liked that. Then yesterday afternoon, it was time to bundle up the ballot and drop it in the box in front of Blair-Caldwell. I was not alone as people were doing the same thing: a perfectly lovely fall day to send the ballot on its way.

Since February, life has been so strange. So many people have died or contracted the virus that changed their lives. Our doctors and nurses are amazing. So are the people who work in grocery stores and liquor stores and in restaurants and delivering the mail. And we try to take care of each other.

2020 was supposed to be a really great year, but, well, it has been anything but. Yet, we now – like right now – have the ability to vote. Colorado did the right thing in 2013 coming up with the concept of mail-in ballots. I’m not the only person worried about other states, whether sending in ballots for the first time or standing in line for hours. Oh, and don’t forget the concept of voter suppression.

So: vote. This is an election like no other. Now.

Below are links to some of the many election guides, as well as some stories that are related. Now that Colorado’s governor and Denver’s mayor are asking all of us to please wear a mask and not be around crowds (even tiny crowds). I don’t know anyone who is crazy about wearing a mask, but it protects me and protects others. Finally, there is a piece in The Lancet about herd immunity, which has been in the news. This concept has been around for a century, but now? Eye rolls: but covered up by glasses and a mask.