Tuesday night and Wednesday morning: One of those periods where my love of reporting the news and editing it on a national web site overwhelmed me.
Arrived home Tuesday afternoon after alternating between the December board meeting of the Floyd County Supervisors and Circuit Court — a day where two events occurring at the same time for one man assigned to cover both for The Floyd Press.
At least three stories to write about with deadline approaching.
In the meantime, my national political news website monitored the special U.S. Senate election in Alabama. I was still working on stories about news in Floyd when networks and news channels projected a major update by Democrat Doug Jones over scandal-ridden Roy Moore, a controversial judge twice removed as chief justice of the state supreme court for ignoring federal law and the constitution and accused by multiple witnesses of sexual assault and misconduct with teenage girls in high school.
Equally controversial president Donald Trump, also charged with sexual assault by more than a dozen women and rape by a 13-year-old former aspiring model and even his own wife (Ivana) had jumped into the Alabama race first supporting Moore’s opponent in the primary and then Moore himself, telling a voters that electing Jones would be a direct slap to his reputation and honor.
Alabama voters didn’t just slap Trump, they kicked him the groin, delivering the second election loss in a row in Alabama along with the trouncing he received when he endorsed Republican Ed Gillespie for governor of Virginia.
In the Old Dominion, voters didn’t buy into Trump’s claim that he is “a star” who can deliver votes to an endorsed candidate.
Most voters in Virginia want nothing to do with Trump. Neither do most of those who voted in Alabama Tuesday.
This may have been the first time in American political history that a president accused of sexual misconduct, rape and abuse has endorsed a state senate candidate with open charges of sexual abuse of teenage girls, some of them under the age of consent even in Alabama, where that age is 16.
Moore is accused of sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in 1979 when he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. Trump is charged with raping a 13-year-old girl who said she was also sexually assaulted by a rich friend of his.
My news site covered the Alabama Senate race extensively and the sexual shenanigans of Trump. I’ve written multiple columns about both.
But I also cover news in Floyd County and the combination of circuit court and supervisors Tuesday kept me writing into the night and on Wednesday morning. I delivered three stories and news photos from the meeting. The court story and one of the two supervisor stories are scheduled to be published Thursday and the second supervisor piece is held over to the following week because of space.
I also squeezed in some time to edit stories about the election and write a column about the results for the political news site.
What I didn’t get time to do was write something for this web site: Blue Ridge Muse.
So I’m doing it now.
Tuesday night’s snow and freezing temperatures along with harsh winds into the wee morning hours cancelled school Wednesday and a planned wrestling match in the evening where the Press expected me to shoot photos for next week’s paper.
That means shooting photos of the girls basketball games at Floyd County High School Friday evening — weather permitting — for next week.
Which means delaying an anniversary dinner for Amy and I until after the games. We celebrate 38 years on Friday.
Won’t be the first time my work as a reporter and photgrapher has interrupted our anniversary or another social occasion. I’ve been out-of-town or even out of the country for several of our anniversaries.
When we were dating, I had to leave to cover a hurricane that was hitting in Southern Illinois in 1978. She came along with me and held my spare cameras while I shot photos.