A Birthday, a Bridge, and a Creative Conspiracy
My Dear Columbia , It has been said that adversity introduces a town to itself (at least I've said it), and this summer we have become rather more intimately acquainted than we may have intended. One hoped a 300th birthday would arrive with bunting and brass bands. Instead, the season delivered homicides, tragic accidents, tornadoes and a beloved building that will soon no longer be with us. Not to mention a bridge that appears to be reconsidering its commitment to standing. Quite a lot for one small borough to absorb between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Your author's nerves are not what they were in June. Then again, neither is the bridge. And yet, amid catastrophes, one constant endures: the traffic. Precious little has been done about it, unless one counts the collective sighing. Where are we heading? At present, "into the intersection, at speed, without looking." Our motorists treat posted limits as charming suggestions from a bygone age. Our pedestrians drift into...