I’ve not been a very active citizen in my town of Northfield for the past 6 months. I expended a lot of effort last year leading the town’s Y2K Community Preparedness effort so I felt like taking a breather. And then starting Real Joe and all the family medical stuff came along, and well, I didn’t have the psychic energy to do much more. I stepped down as chair of Northfield Citizens Online last month and declined to take on the moderation of any special web forums until I knew more about the timing of my wife’s surgery. That’s now looking like it won’t happen till late November so yesterday I agreed to moderate a special forum on the issue of hospital location… and maybe the proposed new rec center.
I love this little town where I’ve lived for 25 years and based on what I know now, I’d like to die here. So civic involvement has increasingly mattered to me in the past 7 years or so and I have the sense that whatever I might do will live on after me, too. All my kids grew up here and I’m hoping that some or all of them might settle down here eventually.
This coming weekend is Jesse James Days, or more correctly, Defeat of JJD. When we first moved to town, it seemd a little crass and hokey like most small-town civic celebrations. But over time, I’ve grown to love it. I’m hoping that my sons, as well as my sister, brother and his family come down this weekend and maybe we can start a little tradition of some kind.