What’s to Like About Rockford…

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My family is considering moving to North Carolina in the not too distant future and I have mixed emotions about it. When I think of NC I think of mountains and beaches, southern hospitality and northern seasons, more manageable winters and fewer summer insects, and I’m ready to high-tail it out of Illinois. Then I see the Phlox blooming in my garden, have a neighbor over for a backyard bonfire, hear my children rave about their school and my roots sink further into the Rockford ground.

My husband says, don’t forget Rockford’s stats: the highest unemployment in the state, highest crime rate, highest high school dropout rate…

I say, but I love my super aggravating/rewarding job…

He reminds me of when my minivan gets stuck at the top of the entrance road to my son’s school in the wintertime and other parents have to get out of their cars to push me…

I remind him of some of our favorite restaurants, the Sinissippi Light Show every Christmas, how much we love our church family…

We go back and forth. I waffle. But for the time being, we stay.

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a lot to like about Rockford, IL. In fact, lots of Rockfordians are “as grumpy as a cat caught in an empty fish barrel,” says the man who works at Kelly’s Mobil. So I thought, I’ll use this blog to remind me why I want to stay. I’ll create a running series entitled, “What’s to Like About Rockford” and once a month I’ll post something positive about the city and surrounding neighborhoods where I live, work and play. That’s only 12 posts a year. Surely, I can do this.

Suggestions welcome!

Photo by Karin Blaski, 8/3/2012

Observations on the Beach: Electrons vs Paper

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The beach is the perfect place to read, and in June, I was able to spend two weeks of blissful sun ray soaking, sandy toe stroking, gentle surf sounding, reading time. I even broke my personal reading record: five books in two weeks. As you can imagine, it was hard to leave that perfect reading environment behind.

Each day, after diving in to a good book for a couple hours at a time, when I finally came up for air, I did some people watching on the beach. And, nosey gal that I am, I took a peak at what they were reading. Mainly, paperbacks. Yes, there were Kindles and Nooks (I saw three of one and two of the other on the first day), and a spattering of hardcover books (three throughout the week), but by and large, beachers were reading paperbacks in every genre.

I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask someone. Well, okay, a few someones that had fatefully unfolded their chairs near mine.

Rachel from Virgina, reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin, told me she owns a Kindle, but would never bring it to the beach because of the sand. “Even if you don’t drop it, there’ll be sand on your hands when you’re touching the screen.” She said a paperback is lower risk and just as satisfying.

Mark from N. Carolina, reading The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal, sitting next to Maggie with a Nook reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, said a paperback felt better. “The sun warms the pages. It feels good. Better than that machine she’s got there.”

Maggie, on the other hand, was all for portability. “I got too much to lug around as it is. And this thing holds an entire library.”

Finally, Carla from S. Carolina reading Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks, said, “I’ve always brought a new paperback to the beach, ever since I was a kid. I pass them around when I’m done and someone hands me off another. The condo I’m staying at has a bunch and you can tell they’ve been well read. It’s recycling.”

So there you have it. My completely non random non statistical sample of the books and book format people read on the beach. And me? I was one of the three with a hardback book. Dust jackets repel sand as well as dust.

How about you? What do you bring to the beach?

Photo © Alex Bramwell