By CAM WARD / Guest Columnist

Sometimes when you serve in political office or work closely with a government body, it is easy to think the entire world revolves around its actions.

While certainly the work being done in our city halls, state legislature and congress are important, people enjoy the break away from the political chattering class from time to time.

I love my job, but I join those who look at summer time as a chance to regain a little normalcy away from politics. I recently had to make a trip back to Montgomery for a series of meetings (you never really get completely away from it!) and I had an interesting conversation with some people who work in state politics on a day-to-day basis.

The conversation revolved around what people in my district were saying about some obscure procedural method used in governing the Senate.

It took me a minute to even figure out what the issue was before I started to laugh and responded, “People are trying to enjoy their time with family and friends over the summer, they probably don’t want some politician talking about the rules of the Senate to them right now.”

I guess my point is that some times, those caught up in the political debates around our country forget about the interests in the real world.

People care passionately about the issues facing our community, but they also care deeply about living life to its fullest by enjoying the casual time with their families.

While the there is a big election ahead in November and a lot of dark clouds ahead for the State General Fund Budget, I know we will have plenty of time over the next several months to debate those issues.

In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys their summer break and gets a chance to truly relax before school starts back and the political season is upon us again.

Cam Ward is a state senator from Alabaster.