As if the city of Los Angeles needed more things to brag about, the Dodgers won the World Series again. Their win over the Blue Jays in Game 7 was reported as the most-watched Fall Classic since 2017, and makes the Dodgers the first back-to-back champs since the Yankees from 1998-2000. 

And as I’m writing this, the Dodgers’ utility man Kike Hernandez is probably still partying his socks off and channeling his inner Jack Wilshere (if you’re an Arsenal fan, you know what I mean, lol).

They say there’s no crying in baseball, but I can certainly give begrudging nods of respect. Shohei Ohtani is a household name, but let’s also give some flowers to his countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched like a literal machine despite also literally running on fumes from Game 6 to 7. A well-deserved MVP.

And speaking of MVPs, Election Day was Tuesday, and in my humble opinion, the real winner was democracy. In the city of Richmond Hill alone, I’m so proud to see folks campaigning for stuff they believe in, and doing so in a respectful, graceful manner. May that energy stick around as we move towards 2026.

Let them not say Jane Hirshfield (1953-)

 Let them not say: we did not see it.

We saw.

 Let them not say: we did not hear it. 

We heard. 

Let them not say: they did not taste it.

We ate, we trembled. 

Let them not say: it was not spoken, not written.

We spoke, we witnessed with voices and hands. 

Let them not say: they did nothing. We did not-enough. Let them say, as they must say something: A kerosene beauty.

It burned. 

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it, read by its light, praised, and it burned. 

-2014

Andrea Gutierrez is the managing editor of the Bryan County News.