Mostly wintry thoughts
John E. Peterson
Thursday, January 11, 2007
IT WAS a cold, wet, nasty day. Rain or mist just seemed to keep falling. Even so, as I drove along I passed a street which was blocked off. That was because there were several men and trucks up the street. They were digging up and repairing a broken water line.
We have these remarkable city employees who serve us. If the water line breaks on a nasty day, they still are there to fix it. Actually, on this same nasty day, I saw them doing it in two different places in town. One was in the morning, the other in the afternoon. There may have been other such places, too. I just happened to drive by these two.
I have written before about the people who serve us. I do not think I have ever mentioned those who take care of water lines and other such things. We would all thank them for their services, especially on nasty days, if I had my way. They are Emporia Pluses!
Our street-cleaning people are another Emporia Plus. That is especially true when it snows. They have to get out early to push the snow off the streets and spread salt and non-skid mixtures. They do a good job, but there is one important minus connected to this work.
Little piles of snow are left in gutters and on the curbs above the street. These piles are impossible for some of us oldsters and people with difficulties to walk over. Not even the slanted walkways beside Handicapped parking spots are always cleaned.
It used to be no problem for us to walk, jump or climb over piles of snow. It gets to where it is impossible with age. This minus with street-cleaning should, therefore, be corrected. At least, a small path through these gutter-piles here and there in a block should be made. They would, if I had my way.
Speaking of gutters and their cleaning reminds me that I have seen some people raking their yard leaves into the gutters. Then, they are still there days later. It seems to me that all of us should be responsible for keeping the gutters around our property clean. Raking leaves into gutters and leaving them there should not be the way we do things. It is just not good citizenship.
I go to the recreation center most every afternoon about four o’clock. During the hot summer days, I often parked over by the railroad in the shade. When I did that, I always saw those big, cement letters which spell EMPORIA on the railroad slope. I still see them on these wintery days as I go to park.
These things should be moved. Almost nobody sees them where they are. The last two or three of them are even covered with growth. I suppose they were quite striking back when the area was still Humboldt Park and lots of people came there. That is not the case today.
So! Why do we not move them to some place where they will call attention to our lovely town? Put them out on a slope beside one of the highways on the edge of town. They could be quite attractive and they could say something positive about Emporia.
Do it, somebody! Get them off that ugly railroad slope and put them where they can advertise our town!
The right to carry concealed guns now becomes legal. That is not a positive move, in my opinion. It will take us back in history. It will take us back to the “Wild West” days. Perhaps we will also get a law permitting us to carry guns in a hip holster. That will taken us back to the days when Dodge City and other towns were part of the Wild West.
I have spoken about this many times before, but I am so obsessed with it that I must do it again. I will, if I have my way. I am talking about the beauty of trees in the winter. Trees are beautiful when they have their leaves, but they may be even more beautiful when the leaves are off.
How could that be, I hear some of you ask? My answer is simply that we now see beautiful silhouettes, beautiful forms made by Mother Nature. In the winter, we can see how the trunks and the branches relate to each other. We can see the variety of the formations.
Different species of trees have different formations. Every tree is even different from every other tree of the same species. Every tree form is different from every other tree. You can see that in the winter.
Do give the winter tree silhouettes a good look! They are marvels of form! Look at many of them! You certainly would, if I had my way.
Jenniferrr (anonymous) says...
The city does a horrible, horrible job of keeping the streets plowed. It is absolutely pathetic. Since when did Rural street become a main road for traffic? The city never fails to make me and many other people unhappy with the poor job they do. Every year we have to depend on the sun to clear the streets. How lame. You would certainly agree and they city would put a little more effort into it, if I had my way. ;)
January 14, 2007 at 11:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )