A pale yellow envelope

...was pushed under my door today. In bold red capital letters it's entitled:

OFFICIAL ABSENTEE BALLOTING MATERIAL

With a curious lack of fanfare (except in my mind), I've just filled in my first ever ballot for the 2008 United States election.

It was a somewhat breathtaking (in the literal sense) moment, even though words cannot quite describe the quiet moment in my apartment, as I sat with the ballot, chose an ordinary black ballpoint pen and filled in my votes for president and congressional representative, sealed and signed my declaration of choice as a citizen of this democratic nation.