To be honest, as the moronic expression goes, I quite enjoy the pre-election mood in Motovun. I appear in public places ever less often, and I spend ever less time there. Also, I speak ever less, and I listen to what people have to say ever more, albeit rather dispassionately, as if I am not involved in anything that matters to anyone around me. I avoid arguments, especially loud ones. And I avoid promises or threats like the plague. Most of the time I only smile sympathetically if enigmatically. The transformation of everyone around me is palpable, too. Most people in town appear rather reasonable and good-natured. They smile at the drop of the hat. Few of them would venture any predictions about the outcome of the elections, as though they are farthest from their busy minds. Which is why everyone is nicer than ever, at least when I am within earshot. If only the pre-election mood could last longer than a few short and baffling months!

Addendum (March 11, 2009)

I printed this piece out and pasted it on a handsome postcard addressed to Ivan Jakovčić, the governor of Istria. I know that he will appreciate my ruminations about the pre-election mood in Motovun no matter how they reflect the chances of his party, which has been in power on the peninsula for almost twenty years now. For good measure, I used a postcard showing a 1925 photograph of Yamana Indians from Tierra del Fuego. Taken by Martin Gusinde, a German anthropologist of renown, it shows four naked warriors with their bows and arrows at the ready. I know that our governor will appreciate any and all images of natives, even if not Istrian.