If Grant County Clerk Mark Florence has his way we'll all be voting on the same type of voting machines when the presidential, state and county primary rolls around in May.

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Boy what a difference a few months makes and this time we're not talking about the weather.

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Over at the Grant County Clerk's office, people are busy but it is, in some ways, the calm before the storm.

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This may well go down as one of the colder Election Days in Grant County. (Those with longer recollections than mine should feel free to weigh in with their memories).

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It's tough to be a gardener this summer thanks to the heat we've been experiencing.

It seems like the dog days of August arrived in June and never really left.

I know with our flower beds and gardens, the pumpkin and squash vines are being attacked by something and the flowers are drooping no matter how much water we're pouring on to them. The reality is that nothing will do them as good as an all night, gentle soaking rain.

But, we should take heart.

If you can keep things going, by that I mean alive, until cooler temperatures arrive in September than those plants will green up nicely for a fall show.

If you should lose a flower or two along the way, plant a mum in its place.

Then, think about the fun we'll have as we enjoy a nice cup of tea, or even a cool drink, in our fall garden.

If you're a fan of history, in particular American history, you will likely travel around the United States to see those sites.

You'd think nothing of heading to Pennsylvania to see Gettysburg or Valley Forge.

It's understandable to those of us who like history.

Visting the site makes the stories you've read, and the history you've heard, come to life.

But, do you think about the history in your own backyard?

Most of know about James Dean and the famous sites that go with him in Grant County. And, we've visited Mississinewa 1812 in October.

But, have you stopped to see the small Miami Indian cemetery out there? Do you know the actual story of the battle?

Did you know that there are Revolutionary War veterans buried in the Marion National Cemetery? Did you know there was once a working dairy farm on the grounds?

Did you know Frederick Douglass came to speak in Jonesboro during the height of the anti-slavery movement? Did you know Jonesboro had what was called a free store, which meant that only goods made from non-slave labor were sold?

Have you walked across the Cumberland Covered Bridge in Matthews?

Do you know about the Quakers and the Underground Railroad in Grant County?

Have you visited the town of Weaver, settled in the 1800s by free African-Americans?

Have you stopped by to learn the history of Marie Webster, and quilting, at the Quilters Hall of Fame?

The point of all this rambling? While it is well and good to seek out our history in other states and other counties, don't forget the history we have here.

It's the way history stays alive, whether it's in Gettysburg, Pa., or Jonesboro, Ind.

I love sports, always have.

When I was about 10 or so, I used to keep a box score for Purdue University basketball when Rick Mount was the star.

Football. Baseball. Basketball. You name the sport, I like it.

So, it's rather disheartening to hear the sports news of late. Which, in recent years, is also the news of old.

Sports figures making millions of dollars still can't seem to get their act together and conduct themselves like adults.

Lately, I've decided that the sports heroes are the students who take to the fields in local athletics, from little kids to high school seniors.

If you're looking to have your faith renewed, check out a high school athletic event.

There are, in rare circumstances, those that you'd like to smack, but by and large there are great kids on the volleyball and tennis courts, football fields and golf courses.

Their seasons begin soon.

If you're looking to remember what sports used to be like, head to the one of the high schools or youth football fields and see.

We publish their schedules regularly.

Like many of us, I enjoy a bit of celebrity gossip now and then, but when it comes to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, enough already.

If I want celebrity gossip I turn to People magazine or television shows such as Access Hollywood.

I don't expect it on CNN, but that's what I got Wednesday during the lunch hour.

While having a going-away lunch for a colleague, a group of us were seated next to a television and there, in living color, was the saga of Lindsay Lohan.

Thankfully the volume was turned down, but you could see commentators talking earnestly to her father, fellow celebrity addicts, etc., etc.

I'm not without sympathy for her plight. Addiction is a terrible thing. And, she seems to need help.

But, how many times in the course of an hour do I need to see her in a bikini with an alcohol monitoring device on her ankle?

The real kicker came as I was reading the news ticker at the bottom of the screen.

There, I learned about more soldiers dying in Iraq and a baby who was found so severely stabbed that its intestines were spilled out and its skull opened.

Isn't there still a human crisis in Darfur?

Aren't kids still going to bed hungry in this country?

Just where are our priorities?

It's seems hard to believe, but we're not that far from school starting again for the year.

Lincoln Elementary School starts around the first of August, Mississinewa follows a few days later and the rest of the school systems shortly after that.

I wonder who's more ready to be back in school, parents or the students?

I suspect most students, even if they won't admit it, are getting a bit bored with summer and are ready to be back in the classroom.

With Synergy in May, much attention has been focused on education in Grant County.

New things are good and the experts certainly know better than I, but I believe some things still stand as far as helping kids get a good education.

First, show an interest in what's happening in their lives at school. Check the school papers, ask about grades, ask about friends, know what's happening and let them know you're interested.

Read, to them, around them. Encourage them to read.

Don't be a stranger at their school. Get to know their teacher(s), principal, friends. It's another way to say you care.

The experts will offer many solutions to education. And, most will be good solutions and worth consideration in Grant County.

But one thing remains true throughout the ages. If you care about the educational process in your child's world, it can make a world of difference.

Election season is a funny time.

We've already received our first election letter to the editor with the election still about four months away.

I was a big fan of the television show The West Wing, especially in its early years, not necessarily for the actual politics of the show, but for the way political types were portrayed, as thoughtful beings.

It seems more and more that issues and thoughtful discourse on those issues is overrun by behind-the-scenes rumblings, rumor mills and who did what to whom.

Some of it may well be valid because it speaks to the character of the person, but let's have the facts to back it up.

It is okay for you and I, for we humans, to disagree on a candidate and on the issues.

But we need to find a way to do so in a constructive, rather than destructive, manner.

National, and even local, politics and politicians sometimes forget that in any given election year.

Let's hope we can do better in the future.