I suppose that this was one of (or THE) first day that I took a vacation day for campaign purposes. After 12 hours I'm definitely ready for bed but it was a great day. I had the privilege of appearing on a panel about women running for office. I knew that Rep. Ellen Story would be the moderator, but I had no idea that Rep. Mary Rogeness and Mayor Clare Higgins of Northampton would ALSO be in attendance. The other panelist was Rosemary Sandlin who is running for State Rep. from the Agawam district. She had just suffered a devastating fire at her house and it was amazing that she could even show up! I won't go into the details of the panel discussion but hearing these experienced women talk about what got them started made me realize how many other people had to break the ice before I had the guts to proverbially throw my hat in the ring. And to bring things full circle, a former colleague of mine, Peggy Fallon, was in the audience and I didn't even recognize her. Luckily I'm sure that's not because I'm getting older....I'm sure her hair is different or SOMETHING! I spent the first hour in Amherst being interviewed by a reporter from the Valley Advocate. Interestingly, the whole "blogger as candidate" thing does appeal to a number of people. My friend Sally drove me to and from the event which not only gave me a break from driving but also someone else to gauge reactions, observations, etc. We also made a quick stop in Conway and got some good advice on photo ops! After I got home I headed out solo to the Berkshire County Selectman's Association dinner where I did a bit of working the room but mostly catching up with old friends. And then on to the Second Congregational Church in Pittsfield for a Deval Patrick meeting. They have gotten grassroots down to a science. I only hope I can take some lessons from that campaign and parlay them into helping my own efforts. And, as Ben Jonson would say, "and so to bed...." I'm 'zausted!