At precisely noon on Monday, Oct. 21, I drove into the parking lot of the Tennessee Shakespeare Co. on Trinity Road in Cordova.

Luckily, someone was pulling out of a parking space not far from the building’s front doors. Otherwise, I would have been relegated to a spot somewhere in the rear of the lot.

Political Roundup: Early voting is down almost 40% from 2020

For the first time since Elaine and I returned to Memphis in 1994 after living in Pittsburgh and Detroit for seven years, we went to vote early as a four-person family team. With us were two grandchildren — MeKaela, 20, a voting participant, and Dylan, six months, a wide-eyed and cooing spectator.

The line of some 30 to 40 voters circled the lobby floor, but did not stretch out the door. The voting process was seamless and took less than 30 minutes, with Dylan easily becoming the star attraction for Democrats, Republicans and Independents waiting to cast their ballot.

It was a charming moment in what otherwise has been an agonizing and often low-brow presidential campaign. And where turnout for the start of early voting in Shelby County has been far below expectation.