Raquel Martina Martinez

Earth date: September 28, 2020With all the noise that the November 3rd Presidential Election results will be contested regardless who wins the electoral college, it is imperative that our votes be secure throughout the process. Here are a few suggestions: 1.Vote in person; do it during early voting to avoid the rush. Don’t forget your mask. Have your voter’s registration card with you, your ID, and in order to do it quickly and safely, take a marked sample ballot with you where you have preselected your choices. 2.If you have a mail-in ballot and your voting place will take marked ballots, make sure you take your ballot, your registration card, you ID, and a mask to the drop off, but do not hand it to anyone but a registered poll worker. 3.If you have a mail-in ballot but you prefer to mail it, don your mask and walk into the post office. Do not drop it into the mailbox. Go early and tell the clerk you want to witness her stamp the date on your ballot. Ask for the clerk’s name and rec…

Earth date: September 21, 2020Four years ago. my husband and I took dance classes. We had tickets for a jive dance party for later that month, and we wanted to get out on the dance floor and pretend to know our stuff. We got home late that Tuesday night and turned on the TV to watch the election results. To our surprise, our choice was winning. For months, the polls had predicted that the other nominee was a better candidate, better qualified and better liked. I had followed her career for years and I came thisclose to voting for her, but at the last minute, I went with my conscience and voted for the other guy. If he was going to lose, no one would notice my one vote, and he and I would go down together. Everyone was stunned. On all channels, these sophisticated, urban reporters were shocked and angry. They had done everything to get their nominee elected, but the ignorant masses had disobeyed orders. I was horrified by some of the comments. They were abusive and demeaning. They call…

Earth date: September 14, 2020One of my favorite movie moments was in History of the World, Part 1 where Mel Brooks playing Moses comes down Mount Sinai carrying three stone tablets. “The Lord Jehovah,” he says loudly for all to hear, “has given us these fifteen.” He accidentally drops one of the tablets onto the rocks, smashing it to pieces. He looks at the mess at his feet. “Oye. Ten,” he yells, “ten commandments for all to obey.”I was in my thirties when I first saw this movie and this slapstick scene caught me so off guard that I burst out laughing and crying at the same time that I forget whatever scene came after. In the years since, I have wondered what if the Lord HAD intended for there to be fifteen Commandments instead of ten, but only ten survived to be mentioned in the Exodus and Deuteronomy. The first four Commandments honor and respect the Lord God, and the other six honor and respect the people and community around us, so maybe the last five were intended for us to reac…

Earth date:September 7, 2020I was one of those obnoxious, sissy girls who played with dolls and dishes when I was a child. My neighborhood was mostly boys, so they ignored me unless they needed an extra person to even up teams when they played war or cowboys, or the one baseball we owned in the whole neighborhood went into Mrs. Cowser’s back yard. She owned three fierce chihuahuas with sharp little teeth, and I could run fast. I grew wiser as I got older and would hold out until they agreed to my terms. I made the boys super-dog, spit-in-the-dirt promise to play “school” with me in return.When it came time to keep their part of the bargain, only my brother and the two boys who lived next door kept their word. Teaching was my career for thirty-seven years. My dream was to get my PhD in languages from UT Austin and travel the world teaching in magnificent universities, but I needed to earn some money first, so back in 1971 I accepted a teaching job. It was only for one year.As most firs…