Today was Vietnam’s National Assembly election. There were 870 candidates approved to run in the election, only 11 of those were not Communist Party members.  More than 100 independent candidates were blocked by the “vetting committee”, one a school teacher because his dog defecated outside his neighbor’s house.

If you live in Da Nang, you certainly couldn’t ignore the upcoming election.  All day yesterday and today trucks with blaring loudspeakers covered with red and yellow hammer and sickle signs encouraged voters to go to the polls.  If a voter failed to vote early in the day, there was a visit at home from a uniformed election official wanting to know why not.  Great political theatre here, but nothing like we have back home. Ugh.  Oh, and President Obama shows up here in Vietnam tomorrow for a 3 day visit, fortunately not here in Da Nang.  He’s busy with really important stuff in Hanoi and Saigon. Probably that little land-dispute war the Vietnamese and Chinese have going on at the moment.

I had two major writing breakthroughs today. One a jet-fueled energy burst where i could see the story before me in ways i hadn’t previously, my typing far behind my mind’s telling of the story.  Just a thrilling ride when that happens.  The other was a new set of facts that came to light unexpectedly, changing the story somewhat,  but on reflection bringing a freshness and richness that are a true gift.

Off to Quang Tri and Hue tomorrow with my sidekicks Lynda and Tam, and Van as I follow the story, wherever it leads.  Today one of my characters killed a 15 meter King Cobra snake with a machete.  How cool is that?