When I was little – maybe 5, 6, 7 – and my mother used to drive me through Canton / Collinsville on my way to the doctor in Hartford, I would always look over to the right into Canton Village, feeling some strange attraction. And so, 30 years later, I moved there. I’ve been here for about 27 years now and still feel the same attraction. I love where I live. I know I’m supposed to be here. It’s funky and beautiful … and the crime … oh, the crime! It so makes me laugh.
What? What am I talking about? Oh, don’t get me wrong, we have traffic violations, some drugs (not as much as other places), and some disturbances of the peace. It’s not those that give me the giggles, most certainly. Those are the serious ones. It’s the other crimes – the light-hearted, silly ones. We have the typical papering of the trees during the Halloween festivities. But we also have the littering of the loaves of bread and Subway grinder rolls left on the sides of the road. Helpful perhaps to starving woodland creatures (hopefully they’re careful when near the road). And then we have my absolute favorite – scarving! That crazy, throw-caution-to-the-wind activity of knitting multi-colored scarves and wrapping up sign posts, telephone poles, and mailboxes, keeping them safe and warm in the bitter winter nights!
If crime needs to exist, and this is how it looks here, well, alrightie then and okie dokie! I’ll take it! I am so grateful for the forms it takes …