Pot Pourri

Just signed up for membership in the Trustees of Reservations. It will be nice to have an environmental and conservation organization in town again! OK, truth by told, I became a life member in the NRT shortly before my recent defenestration-you'd think life members would get a gold membership card or a welcome donor note, but thankfully I wasn't holding my breath.

Maggie and I are planning to visit another Trustee property in Canton tomorrow called Signal Hill. Why? It's going to be hot, and its 300 feet shorter than their Moose Hill property! Although it does have the dreaded M symbol for moderate rather than easy walking. We'd go fishing except I haven't had a bite the last three times out.

 For those of you who thought that the old Glass House at the Shovel Shop would remain a steel skeleton, word has reached this outpost that the swatches for the new siding have arrived. This old building is being repurposed in three ways. First, four bays on the north end were removed to make way for the new sewage treatment plant. The middle section will have the metal siding we have become used to restored. The southern two bays will remain open with its roof restored as a walk through on the site. The metal siding will be something called antique bronze which to my eye doesn't look that much different from what was there. Two other subtle colors will be used on the upper walls of the building. I'd show you the swatches, but nothing causes controversy like choosing colors. You can see them live at the Historical Commission Meeting a week from Tuesday.

We are entering a dark age of literacy. Ten second sound bites and "thoughtful" pundits have ruined our ability to get the point of subtle prose, the nuances of irony, the joy of getting what a really smart author is talking about. We need help. A big step in the right direction were emoticons like ";-)" for readers who weren't sure you were joking when you called your boss Mr. Potato Head in an e-mail. However, we need more. I particularly feel the need for a punctuation mark to represent those sarcastic air quotes that I use all the time in conversation. I mean did you really catch the ironic use of the quotes in "thoughtful" above. How about "thoughtful". Think about it.

Now that we are marching towards "communism" with Obama Care, my conservative friends are telling me the next giant step will be the Attorney General's approval of Easton's ban on public smoking. Once that happens there will be no stopping the commies from banning the public consumption of ice cream because it causes obesity. I'm already seeking opportunities in the sugar-free shaved ice industry, but my conservative friends tell me due to government regulations the ice will come in one flavor, you'll have to buy it from the federal government, and chances are by the time it's delivered it will have melted. Oh, wait a second, that's Obama Care, I really need to pay better attention to the dialogue, or is that diatribe?