By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, I will have made it just beyond the two-month mark for the knee replacement surgery and a month back to school. Bristol is a week out from the Mum Festival and four weeks from our municipal election on Nov. 2. Life just keeps on keeping on.
The weather has been pretty good, cool but sunny days. Nights are great for sleeping. Mary and I have even managed to get a visit into one grandbaby (and parents). If there is anything that indicates how fast the days past, and how fast kids grow, wait a month to visit a grandbaby, and even though you keep up with FaceTime calls, videos and regular pictures, nothing makes this picture of time passing clearer than walking in the door and watching this toddler show off new skills, from running across the floor to flipping the pages in a book to manipulating clips and snaps and zippers.
Three-syllable words slip off the tongue, those images in the picture books get proper names, a little hand reaches over indicating it’s time to get up off the couch and take me for a walk.
So, while the knee is not nearly where it will be in six months and a year, it’s good enough to get in the car and go for a long car ride and spend time with a grandbaby and even go for a walk, as long as there is another adult around in the event that tiny little hand slips out of mine when something, such as a shiny rock, begins to call. And something always calls: “Truck, rmmm. Doggy, bark. Rock, hold it.”
About the Mum Festival, I am still hearing good things. Kudos to the folks who worked so hard to bring the festival back, and in such a fetching venue. With the boulevard closed, closing Riverside Ave. and North Main did more than make up.
Here at TBE, we are doing what we can to bring our readers information about the election. Part of that effort is to talk with the chairs of the respective town committees. A first interview with Democratic Town Committee chair Rippy Patton occurred Sat. Oct. 25 and is up on the site. Rich Kilby has responded to an invitation to talk, and the two of us plan to talk in the coming week to set up an interview. It’s important to get the issues out there and to find out where the candidates stand. We are trying our best to do that, even with our limited resources.
As for other news, Brianne Parker, the Bristol Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year, has been named the National Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year. That is a tremendous achievement. We hope to have more of the story soon. For the Bristol club, this is two consecutive years that a Bristolite has received the honor.
For listening and reading this week, a short read. David Brooks, a conversative who writes a column for the New York Times, wrote a piece, entitled “This Is Why We Need to Spend $4 Trillion.” It’s not so much my opinion that matters in this instance, but it is my goal to share provocative pieces with readers. Click here for a link to the column. Typically, if you are not a subscriber to the Times, you can get a few free articles before getting shut down.
Enjoy your week.
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.