Fighting for the Right Signs, From My Sickbed

I remember so well that Saturday afternoon when our town offered flu shots for the public. I even put up the notice on the cafe bulletin board, vowing to get the shot myself to avoid getting sick this winter. Then I looked up at the clock that day and saw that it ended at 1 pm, and I missed my chance at a shot.

For the past three days I’ve been down with the flu. It’s a rarity for me to be sick, and I keep thinking about that flu shot that I didn’t get. Rats! Last night I awoke to a dark and quiet house and thought it was the middle of the night…but it was only 10:45 pm. Fitful weird dreams, covers being thrown about, and through it all Mama cat by my side, the serenely calm bedside partner who keeps her distance down on the bottom of the bed.

Despite my illness, that is now receding, I’ve got some battles to fight this week, so I have to muster my strength. One involves signs on the two roads that pass South Deerfield’s downtown. I’ve rallied my fellow business people to propose that the state erect signs that point to the downtown business district, and worked out the proposal with the town manager.

Then I hear that he wants the signs to point to “Municipal Offices, Police Station, Library” instead of “Restaurants, Shops, Downtown South Deerfield.” Something about how if the town is paying that’s what they should say. So I am going to show up at the selectman’s meeting, (hopefully I can recruit some fellow business owners), and lobby for a more mercantile wording.

I mean, who drives by Yankee Candle wondering where they can find the town hall?