lady brains

I grew up in a pretty small town on the Appalachian Trail (this is not the backwoods moonshine Appalachia you imagine). I believe there are eight hundred something citizens now but when I was in high school it was closer to seven hundred. There is a one-room schoolhouse museum and art gallery that operated as a school until 1969, the local church hosts weekly town picnics for the hikers, the local jazz club is world-renowned and has been operating since the end of WWII. It is a haven for aging hippies, artists, and musicians and it is the closest thing to a perfect town that I can imagine. Just ask Teddy Roosevelt:




(Now the Deer Head Inn)

Have I mentioned that all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all of the children are above average?

Seriously, though, it is pretty good there. I like to tell the story of when Krysta and I watched the (volunteer) firefighters help a cat out of a tree. It's always reminded me a bit of Pleasantville, without all the negative connotations. I mean really. What other town would dispatch the fire department to help a feline in a precarious position?



GOOD MORNING PINE STREET! A neighbor's cat escaped out the window to the roof, somehow, and both animal control and the fire department helped kitty get home safely.

Philadelphia, I am really glad that you did this today. Firefighters, I hope you still have a job at the end of the year. You too, librarians.

Max came home from work yesterday and said he'd spoken to a woman who has lived in Philadelphia for a few decades.

"This has happened before," she told him. "The last time there was a budget debacle the city didn't maintain Rittenhouse Square for a year. It was really overgrown, people stopped going there. It was one of the best things that ever happened to Center City. It was this beautiful wilderness. It became more like a neighborhood, and less like Center City.

"But the problem when a library closes is that another library doesn't open up in its place."