Still Taking Care of Business

On our way to the Bridgewater Commons Mall for an air-conditioned walk (hasn’t it been oppressive outdoors recently?), Priscille and I motored by the Bridgewater Municipal Complex which is undergoing its major additions and makeover. We passed by the older building facing Garretson Road and noticed that all the windows were open – probably to let the air circulate for the workers inside, as the major renovation of that building progresses.

The Public Works Department is no longer at that site, having been relocated to Route 22. I rely a lot on that department. Even though Priscille and I don’t have a very large lot, our place still has a lot of trees, and that means seasonal yard debris and leaves to bag in the fall – and someone to pick it up.

When we came back from our recent vacation, the tornado that devastated parts of Bridgewater had left many broken branches in its wake. That’s where Public Works came in. A few days after our return, I noticed a Township crew working quickly, picking up and chipping branches by the side of a home near our house.

I walked over to the man in charge and asked if he could do the same for me. “Just call Public Works and get on the list,” he said. Yesterday morning while Priscille and I were at the Mall, a crew came over and cleaned up everything that I had dragged down to the side of the roadway.

There’s a lot that’s going wrong with government in this state, but there’s also a lot that’s going well, especially at the local level where it counts the most. Bridgewater Township crews are earning their salaries this summer, as they sweat it out cleaning up the detritus of that last storm.

A Cold Brewski on a Steamy Bridgewater Afternoon

We returned to Bridgewater from vacation to find the yard a disaster area – broken limbs and branches all over. As a consequence, I found myself cleaning up the mess last Saturday afternoon in the intensity of that hot steamy day. Not wanting to overdo it, I called it quits after about three hours, satisfied that the job could be completed another day.

The work clothing was clearly ready for laundry: my cap’s sweat band was soaked with perspiration; the T-shirt could be mistaken for a wet towel (I went through two!); and my socks came off just as wet and speckled with dirt – all items testimony to a good afternoon’s worth of labor.

There is little like the all-enveloping muggy-hot weather of an August afternoon after completing outdoor chores to call up a thirst for an ice-cold frosty brew. The two bottles of iced tea and one of water which I quaffed while working had not quite done the job.

I pulled a chilled can of beer from the fridge, opened the cabinet door for a Cheese-It snack, stepped outside, plunked my butt down on a patio chair, and approvingly admired the blue of the sky and the bleached white clouds lounging in the background beyond the tree line – a good moment to contemplate the blessing of what nature gives us and for which we don’t even have to ask.

The simplest things can often be the most satisfying.