Metropolitain

  • el
  • pt

    • by Frank Paynter on May 22, 2024

    Brian Moffatt et fils were enjoying some time in Montreal while I was in Joisey.  I visited the in-laws while they basked in the uplifting company of Jon Husband and J. Alva Scruggs.  I’m jealous.  While they were being all urbane and sophisticated, I was hanging out with the in-laws.  Nice people, the in-laws, and so are their neighbors, but all that mid-Atlantic suburban/ex-urban in-fill has driven out most of the wildlife except for the squirrels.  I’m ready for another vacation already and I’ve been back for less than twenty-four hours.

    { 7 comments… read them below or add one }

    J. Alva Scruggs 05.22.06 at 5:55

    all that mid-Atlantic suburban/ex-urban in-fill has driven out most of the wildlife except for the squirrels

    Come to Montreal with us next time we get together, Frank.

    Frank Paynter 05.22.06 at 6:46

    Okay… just give me a little planning time.

    ralph 05.22.06 at 7:01

    Your in-laws must live in the wrong part of NJ. When I look out my window, I see deer, racoons, and an opossum in addition to squirrels. They recently shot a bear in Trenton. And I’m only about 20 miles south of Manhattan as the crow flies, not down in the Pine Barrens or anything.

    in-law 05.24.06 at 10:01

    Hey, we got rabbits, mice, racoons, ‘possums, the occasional deer, wild turkey, and groundhog here in this ’suburb/ex-urb’, 40 miles south of Manhattan (actually a former farm town in the heart of the Garden State). Of course, every now and again, a wild pair from WI drops by to entertain the neighbors!

    Frank Paynter 05.24.06 at 10:57

    Yeah, yeah… you got turtles and frogs and wrens and what-not. You got wild turkeys from Wisconsin. But, really, the “squirrels” reference was an insider thing referring to the neighbors. And to all of us, actually. Blogger Scruggs is always going on about squirrels, metaphoric constructs representing everyone from your right wing neo-con inspired next door neighbors to us, the liberal children of the people who put an end to HUAC. Near as I can tell part of his intention is to point out that the-powers-that-be gain their motive force from a cage full of mad squirrels racing madly about providing kinetic energy. Squirrels are us.

    Anyway, we did have a wonderful time and were happy to see more of the ever more suburban and less Garden State. Hope Catherine’s knee is doing better! My sunburned scalp hasn’t started to peel yet.

    in-law 05.25.06 at 9:41

    Understood. The neighbors left for Vegas on Monday, so we haven’t conversed with them since our discussion. Remember the bumper sticker - “annnoy a liberal - get a job, buy a house, be happy” !!

    J. Alva Scruggs 05.25.06 at 2:47

    the-powers-that-be gain their motive force from a cage full of mad squirrels racing madly about providing kinetic energy

    I was afraid that I hadn’t made it clear. That’s also where they get their policy proposals, by the way.

    In addition to liberalism being a reform political force, it’s a temperament, as is conservatism. It’s not unusual to find liberals who much prefer Mencken to Lakoff.

    Conservatism as a political force unfortunately exists only on the fringes. Actually existing conservatism is a know-nothing, oligarch-coddling, punitive nanny state, where other people’s morality is very important and ones own is an afterthought. Annoy a conservative — start a land trust, build a business, be thrifty.

    Leave a Comment

    You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>