101 Posts

I just noticed that there are 101 postings to this blog. I guess that is some sort of a milestone to be celebrated. The responses from RHS alumni across the country have been very heartening and I truly believe this blog will evolve into something with "durable significance" as one of my old professors at Dickinson College used to say.

Please keep an eye on our progress, and don't let the current economic climate dissuade you from doing some reminiscing. In 1974 we had an energy shock, price controls, and much higher unemployment. We made it through those troubled times and we will survive this panic, too.

It might just be best to dwell on something else for a time. I often find it soothing to ponder what the best and brightest minds have written. For instance, consider what William Wordsworth believed were the origins of poetry. He makes the point that "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." I wouldn't want to say that the quality of my blogging can be compared to the effort which a poet must put forth, though the origins could be from the same source. My recollections regarding Ridgewood are produced during my more tranquil moments, and they do suggest an overflow of powerful feelings for a town which I visit more often in my mind than I do via automobile.

Hopefully I will regain a more balanced view in the future and have more reason to see Ridgewood as it is today. No question the changes have been staggering over the last 30 odd years. The funny thing is that during the times I am able to cruise Ridgewood Avenue or drive by my old house on Glenwood Road, I do find some things which haven't changed a bit. Maybe the lesson is that as we grow older recollections of our childhood can and should be brought to light, if only to give us a prospective on where we are heading in our adulthood. In other words, you won't know where you are going until such time as you fully understand where you have been.