The summer had been swimming along nicely. The sun finally came out and gardens began to flourish.
There was a baby boy born in Calgary who will someday call me Mormor. There was another baby born in Cold Lake, Alta. when he was supposed to be born here. He's going to bring joy to a long-time co-worker and her husband. There've been weddings and reunions and social gatherings of all kinds.
Tuesday we had a sneak preview of the fun and frivolity that will explode in downtown North Battleford starting Friday and running to Sunday when the International Street Performers Festival comes to the community for the first time.
Things were looking just hunky dory and then, wham, Statistics Canada releases its latest report on crime severity. Let's just say North Battleford's ranking in various categories once again sucks wide.
It's a story we hate here in the News-Optimist/Regional Optimist newsroom. No matter how we play it someone is upset with us. If we bury it on Page 40 and let the mayor put as positive a spin on it as possible, the Victims of Crime Facebook folks immediately roast us over a hot bed of coals.
Others think any mention of the subject is too much. In any event the annual shake up the flat summer news cycle thanks to the folks at Statistics Canada is just one big on-going headache for us.
Sadly we can't just stick our heads in the sand and ignore the story. We have to chase it and we will. There's a brief summary of the numbers in this edition with more analysis and comment to come.
Brace yourself for the descent of the provincial and national media, as they once again portray the community as a collection of frightened, embattled citizens cowering in their homes.
Before that storm descends, some of the people working diligently to improve not only the image of the community, but to deal with some of the issues that have us in this mess in the first place, are offering up a wonderful diversion from the real word.
Stash the bad statistics at the back of your mind for the weekend and head out to support the street performers. They aren't about to be frightened off by some harsh numbers. They just want to have fun, and everyone else should, too.
