Clouds!

Yesterday saw the return of real clouds for the first time in about six months. mind you these are not yet rain clouds but the cover was nice and they at least give the promise of rain sometime in the not so distant future. Of course the rains wont really start until I am back in the good ol USofA (and frankly here in the south it is hard to call them “rains” since we rarely get more than a shower most of the time). Of course like a lot of things here, the clouds are also a bit of a tease since they let you begin to think that the long six months of dry winter are over, when in reality we still have a few more weeks to go.

In other news, pictures from my recent trip to Okakarara and Otjiwarongo for a birthday party and a workshop on Male Engagement in HIV/AIDS prevention are now up over on Picasa as well as shots from our COS Conference (close of service where we talk about what life after PC will be like and get all syched to go home and then head back to site for 3 months.)

In political news that was overshadowed by the Veep debate, I have to say that I was quite suprised by the news that McCain was pulling out of Michigan. Not that I thought he could actually take the state from Obama, but the fact that he is pulling out at this point paints a pretty bleak picture for his campaign at this point. Strategically, given the resources that Obama is pouring into FLorida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, and others it makes sense. Yet, the timing is what should be most troubling to McCain supporters. Sure the Michigan is trending away from him and when you are at a monetary disadvantage like McCain you never want to keep spending good money after bad, but to pull out 32 days out sends a horrible message. But given all the other puzzling moves in the campaign (the big one being picking Sarah Palin) this kinda seems par for the course. Of course this does not mean the election is sewn up for Obama but if I was a McCain supporter I would be pretty worried at this point.

(Side note, hard to believe that McCain will be up in Pennsylvania much longer or if he is you have to start to wonder if they know something we dont or if maybe McCain turned the whole campaign over to Palin’s family after the convention since that would make about as much sense. )