While we love our home and being there, it seems that days go by without ever sitting down to a meal. And though I lament this reality, there is so much good happening on the other side of our front door to which receptivity is warranted. So we gather our family and go into the world. Heartland Truly Moving Pictures gave us such an opportunity just this past week. Our family had been in Brown County for much of the weekend, enjoying the turning autumn colors and the company of good friends. But we dashed off to tux up and attend the annual awards gala as the guest of a dedicated board member. It would have been easy to have demurred. It would have been easy to pass on another event. But as so often happens, we are certainly glad that we did not. Heartland’s film festival has become an Indianapolis and now international must-do. The winning film “Cairo” illustrates the reality of sexism in the Muslim world. Check it and others out at www.trulymovingpictures.org.

Urbane people and talented filmmakers would have been enough to make this evening worth the effort, but it held another moment. At dinner, a guest we’d just met was announced as recently becoming a US citizen. We welcomed him to the fold and asked him to share his story. It seems that while he’s lived here more than two decades, he felt it wrong to remain longer without casting a ballot. Wow. He’d built a business, raised a family and paid taxes without complaint. But decided he could no longer, in good faith, call this place home without fulfilling his obligation to vote. While delighted by his choice, one is chilled by the millions of “natural” Americans who are not able to make the same commitment. Please go to the polls.