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What Makes A Neighborhood?
(June 19, 2004)
Some time ago I was shown a Social
Studies Textbook for elementary school students. This book was written
about the time that everyone started being politically correct. The
definition of a neighborhood was an area surrounding a common building
such as a large factory, Post Office or school.
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Shaking Off the
Dead of Winter
(April 16, 2004)
My calendar says that the first day of
spring is April 20th. Why are we complaining that spring will never come?.
The weather could warm up a bit but I would still take forty degree temps
over teens and twenties any day. All the signs of spring are arriving. I’ve
been watching a pair of cardinals that have decided our yard is a feeding
ground.
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The Road
Most Traveled
(March 19, 2004) Last week I had some
business in Plymouth. I get confused lately because I have not been around
for a while so when I go to Plymouth I have to plan my route carefully.
Quite a bit of my world centered around North Plymouth and for about a
half century I have taken the Cherry Street exit for access to there from
both the north and south. I have decided that I have no use for that exit
any longer. To get to Cherry Street from Kingston the exit takes you from
North Plymouth practically back into Kingston and around through the
sandpit where you can gaze at where Nick's Rock used to be.
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Some
Things Never Change
(February 20, 2004)
These times are strange. We have just
completed the most spirited election I have seen in a long time and now
we have most of the same candidates running for another seat on the
Board of Selectmen. I came across some newspaper reporting the other day
about a candidate for re-election.
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Taking Stock of the Last Year
(January 15, 2004) January is a
month that we like to use to take stock of our lives and profess to make
changes and some new beginnings. I myself lately have taken a look at my
past columns and have come to the conclusion that I definitely should
not quit the day job.
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Reform Begins in
the Mirror
(December 2003) One reason I would never consider a run for top
dog in Kingston again is that a candidate now, more than ever, has to
appear to be lily white. This I learn from reading what some people are
saying about our Town Officials. They are pointing out that all of our
elected officials are pretty much incapable of leadership.
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Not the Water
(November 14, 2003)
It’s not in the water! Current events in
our Town have me as concerned as anyone else but I’m very tired of
hearing that our water is somehow responsible for the behavior of
certain elected officials be it alleged or true. I’m also tired of being
lumped into the category of stupid, power hungry, arrogant Town
Officials.
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Paving Main Street
with Good Intentions
(October 17, 2003)
What’s with the fuss about the streets?
I’ve said before that all the city people were going to move here
because they like what Kingston is about. Having settled into a place
they chose because of the quality of life they immediately miss some of
the things that make a city a city.
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If A Zebra Is A Horse
Designed By Committee
-- What is 40B?
(August 21, 2003)
I check the Town news most mornings by
listening to a local radio station during my commute. Lately there seems
to be something about a 40- B housing proposal in one of our area towns.
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We Got
the Flow but the Cash Has Pooped Out
(July 25, 2003) About twenty- five
years ago I started going to Town Meetings. One of the big issues was a
section of town that seemed to desperately need sewerage. That section
of town was Rocky Nook. I was fairly familiar with the Nook since it was
a summer refuge for people from the big city. We used to cruise that
part of town as high schoolers looking for whatever we could get into. I
was also newly married to a city transplant that just happened to have
located on Howland’s Lane when her family built a permanent home on land
next to their cottage.
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An Unquenchable Thirst
for Liquid Resources
(June 20, 2003)
This rainy weather will never end. It
seems like the last weekend was the best we’ve had in some time but we
still got a shower followed by a dust storm of pollen. Still I read that
Plymouth has issued a water ban. Water is a very valuable resource that
has been taken for granted.
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A Divorce Can Get Ugly
(May 16, 2003)
The crisis has passed. The Silver Lake High School
Class of 2003 will all graduate together. First and foremost I agree
totally that the students were held hostage here. High School seniors
should be free to enjoy all the privileges that surviving twelve years
of primary and secondary education generally allow. They are now free to
skip school, make plans for the prom, and enjoy themselves in their last
days before moving on to the next step in their lives.
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Holidays in Kingston
(December 2002) Thanksgiving has
come and gone leaving only two more holidays to the season. Here I sit
complaining to myself that both fall on Wednesday. How can I get in the
spirit if I have to work on Monday and Tuesday then return for Thursday
and Friday only to repeat this the next week.
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One for me, two for you
(November 2002) With all the
excitement of an election and all the goings on I couldn’t help but
remember election years past.
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When Bureaucracy Rules
(September 2002) We play by rules
all our lives and she is cursed to have inherited my nature to first
understand, then try to fit those rules to satisfy my desires. Sometimes
the rules can’t be bent to fit so we just assume that they are for
others, not us...
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What's in a number?
(August 2002) Just when I thought I
was becoming a Townie I got set back in my place. Last Sunday at the
Jones River Historical Society brunch...
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Boys of Summer Remembered
We had only three Little League teams in town when I played. There was
also Farm League for the younger players.
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Praise for the Kingston
Fire Department
(May 2002) Most people go happily
through life without ever interacting with their local Fire Services. I
am not one of those people. For better or worse I’ve had more than my
share of interaction. My first incident was when I was a very young boy,
ten or less. |
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Learn from the past before
embracing the future
(April 2002) They say change is
inevitable. They say change is good. I say not always.
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Harboring some vintage
thoughts
in the wake of old age
(March 2002) I think the country
western song goes "Just an old wooden boat, seventy-five Johnson,
electric choke". My version would go "Just an old wooden boat, thirty
five Johnson, start it with a rope". Actually it all started when my
uncle bought a half-built plywood boat and decided to finish it. |
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A look at Kingston's balancing act on the
budget
(February 2002) A well seasoned
Kingston politician and businessman asserted that I was not a good
candidate for the Board of
Selectmen because I had not first passed through the Finance Committee.
That sounded foolish to me then and now.
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A Politician’s Field Guide
to Motives & Excuses
(January 2002)
For some inexplicable reason I burst on
the Kingston political scene in the early seventies. My first try was a
run for the Planning Board. The fact that I knew little about the
Planning Board or what it did was not a problem. After all I had taken a
course in Urban Planning in college and my other viable option was a
seat on the School Committee which did not seem appealing at the time,
even less so now. [] |
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The inside story of Kingston’s rail connection
(December 2001) In a roundabout way
the train brought me to Kingston in 1953. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Welch and
their neighbor Emma Mange, the Kingston School Nurse set out to vote in
the Presidential election, probably for Ike as the town was staunchly
Republican in those days. An afternoon ride brought them to the Silver
Lake crossing where they fatally met a passing train.
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