Saturday, December 22, 2012
What we love and loathe about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: It turns out that I needed to be at several of our public schools just days after the Newtown shooting massacre. What struck me almost immediately was that it was mostly business as usual. Obviously, the administrators and teachers were taking more stringent precautions, but in a way that did not make school – which is, after all, the place that our children spend most of their time, a place to fear or hate (at least no more than usual). In the midst of our fear and sadness, the ramped up safety drills and increased security measures, the moments of silence and the anxiety, it is easy to lose sight of the environment all parents ... all adults want to create for children: not just a world where you can go to school, to the mall, to …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
What to love and loathe about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: I am going to admit this upfront: I have Wickford envy. It hits me every time I walk up Brown Street (they’re too swank to call it Main Street like the rest of us poor schlubs). The town is just so darn quaint. Well, I’m over it now. Walking in Scalloptown Park the other day, my husband, in a rare expansive mood, swept his arms wide and declaimed, “Where else can you get such a pristine view? No billboards or traffic noise and we’re right in the heart of downtown East Greenwich.” The fact that the Acela blew past at that moment sort of ruined the moment, but I understood his point. However, still under the thrall of Wickford, I answered just that: “Wickford. It has Wilson Park and,” I slyly added, “no train.” “Wickford!” snorted my …
Saturday, December 1, 2012
What to love and loathe about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: I just read that a school bus company used by the East Greenwich school district was fined for idling. In case you didn’t know, idling is limited to five minutes in Rhode Island (it’s only three minutes in Connecticut – though with the parking lot that I 95 seems to morph into in the Nutmeg State, I can’t believe they can get away with less than a 60-minute idle prohibition). The companies will pay a $35,000 penalty and perform environmental “projects” valued at $131,000. I am not sure what the latter means and don’t want to even hazard a guess, though a sugarplum image of bus monitors pirouetting down the streets picking up road litter is making me smile right now. Frankly, I can’t say I am all that shocked about this whole idle …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
RANT: With so much to be grateful for this season – a warm home and food on the table (knowing many have lost it all), the election finally over (well, abated for at least one year) the kids’ cats are on sabbatical from peeing on our beds (gross), narwhals (because if they exist, maybe unicorns do too), the return of the East Greenwich Hill and Harbor Turkey Trot, video games (because you can’t, scratch that, shouldn’t shoot stupid people in real life), the return of Jiggers, the opening of Silver Spoon Bakery (though my thighs aren’t quite as appreciative of that one), the survival of The Village Café, the reopening of the Odeum, our troops and anyone in any job that puts their life on the line, my dishwasher (or, more to the point, …
Saturday, November 17, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
RANT: One question – who knows what the Town Moderator does? Hopefully, about 7,319 of you will be able to answer because you voted last Tuesday (I’ll let the other 3,414 registered voters who did not show up at the ballots on November 6 off the hook). I have to admit, I had no idea. But I did know that I didn’t like the fact that he was running unopposed. (Apparently, one of his opponents was unable to scare up the required 50 signatures to get on the ballot and the other withdrew.) So I didn’t vote for him. The “him,” in case you’re wondering, is Mr. James W. Patti (Republican), who won by a landslide with 98.3% of the vote. Apologies, Mr. Patti. I have now done a little research and realize yours is a thankless task. The Town Moderator…
Saturday, November 10, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
Finally. You may be disappointed, elated or indifferent to the outcome (and I know I am all three in varying degrees) but Election Day has, thankfully, come and gone. This year, I decided (or, more accurately, was coerced by a neighbor – thanks, Jeff) to take the final leap and work as a canvasser at Swift Gym. Here are some of the things I discovered, thought or saw in the 14 some hours I spent at the polling station in no particular order of a rant or rave because frankly, the whole day was a rave for me – even things I normally rant about (like long lines or bad manners) seemed bearable: That last point, which is truly a rave, is what I am going to try and keep with me over the next four years.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: The election is almost here. Finally. Never before have I been so thoroughly sick of a campaign – or should we just call it like it is? – drawn-out attack and counter-attack? How long has it been – a decade? I am usually a news yeller. I yell when a report on the war comes out. I yell when a piece on factories in India is broadcast. I yell at celebrity stories. I yell at weather forecasts. Heck, I even yell at movie reviews. So you can imagine the noise I have been making lately. Even my cats are concerned. I don’t think I am alone when I say: I am sick and tired of the mudslinging between the candidates. I am sick and tired of the nonstop nasty mailers and ads. I am sick and tired of the bad behavior all around. Our politicians, …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: Hands up – who learned something new from the House District 30 Debates that took place last Wednesday? Seriously, I really want to know because I couldn’t make it. Darn school meetings. But my kids went and they certainly came back with a clearer sense of whom they would vote for – that is, if they were old enough to vote. I, on the other hand, read the follow up of the debate published on this site and now have a clearer sense of whom I will indeed vote for – because I am most certainly old enough to vote. So, did we really need to corral all of the candidates in one place to help us make an informed choice on November 6? Well, that’s debatable. If we are talking about the presidential debates, I would have to say no. However, …
Saturday, October 20, 2012
What to love and heat about living in East Greenwich this week.
RAVE: Let’s talk about grinding for a minute. Not the daily grind (that’s just too depressing to discuss), but the style of dancing (please note that I am making air quotes around the word dancing) that has been banned from many schools, including our own high school. If you haven’t seen this kind of action before, use your imagination. Actually, scratch that. Just think vertical lap dance. I’m happy to say I haven’t had to deal with this too much since my kids, despite being newly minted teenagers, still don’t seem to have reached a point where they differentiate between the sexes. In fact, I think they might be even more grossed out than I am by the concept of grinding. For now. Because living with a teenager is like living with a pod …
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What to love and hate about living in East Greenwich this week.
RANT: For some, it’s the inexplicable (to my family, anyway) urge to purge the yard of leaves. For others, it’s the sweet words “off-sides” and “corner kick” or eyeing the cornstalks and gourds at the farmer’s market at Goddard. But for me, the true harbinger of fall – which actually officially started last month – is the closing of the neighborhood ice cream emporiums (that sound you hear is me screaming in denial). In this era of the 24/7 economy, an enterprise that stays shuttered for one-third of the year might seem to make as much sense as owning a chain of phone booths. But as much as I hate the actuality of it, I do sort of appreciate the seasonal rhythm it represents. Sure, cabinets and sundaes are available at many local …
Janet Carter
1:58 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
drive over to wood estates in coventry if you want lights synchronized to music. there is such a display on blue spruce drive. more ›