I take a look at the “Letters to The Editor” section of the paper every morning just to see what’s on people’s minds in the area.  It’s always surprising to see the things the letters complain about and this morning was no different. The Christmas parade theme and Route 3 speeders were two of the topics. Now, I’ll grant you that a Caribbean beach theme is an odd choice for a Christmas parade and I’ll agree that speeding is a bad thing but there is so much around here that’s good it seems too bad that these writers can’t seem to focus on a more positive spectrum of life in the Burg.

One example comes immediately to mind. I live right above the entrance road to the hospital so I hear the sirens ambulances from Fredericksburg, Stafford, Orange, King George and Caroline plus the Life Care units that run there. Folks, that’s a lot of sirens. Now there is the sound of the helicopters as well.  I guess I could carry on a bit about the constant noise but that noise also means that the amazing corps of volunteers who give up their time and energy to help others are still seeing to their chosen duty.  With that kind of resource here I couldn’t care less what theme is used for the Christmas parade.  Having dinner with two friends from Russia a couple of weeks ago I mentioned the parade and they were absolutely enchanted by the whole idea of local Christmas parades which are apparently an unknown concept in Moscow. 

A recurring theme I see in the letters and even in the editorials is the increased demand for local government services as a result of influx of people from the DC area who are looking for more affordable housing and maybe a different more relaxed community in which to raise their familys.  The other side of that coin is that our proximity to Washington means we are also about an hour from first class entertainment at the Kennedy Center and some of the world’s great museums on the downtown mall.

The point of all this is simple…we are in a great place here. Yes, things are changing and yes sometimes things aren’t exactly as we like but on the whole, there’s a lot more good than bad here in the Burg.