Delaware Dreams-A New Citizen Reports In

After my husband lost his job of 30 years and with a large house in great need of repair, our decision to move was a given. I was a life long Maryland native while he lived in Maryland, having moved down from Massachusetts, the fifteen years of our marriage. Husband was originally from Indiana; his family relocated to Massachusetts as a result of a job change.

We fancied ourselves to be former hippies now settled and with a conservative ideology more vociferous due to its conversion from liberal. At least that's how we saw it but it was no mind. Husband was tired of living in liberal bastions on the east coast and asked that we compromise from my desire to move to Maryland's eastern shore to a move to Delaware, right up the street.

And so we did and it's been a year. In that year I've managed to fashion my image of Delaware, its quirks and niceties, its annoyances, the very cuteness of being a state with only three electoral votes.

Before June of 2003, my image of Delaware was of a state somewhere between New Jersey and Maryland. Most of any visits I ever made to the little state was to cross over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I'd driven up Highway 1 from Maryland's Ocean City a few times, the sort of things summer vacationers do during duller moments or cloudy days. A few times I walked the Rehobeth Beach boardwalk, smug that Ocean City's was way cooler.

The first characteristic I'd use to describe Delaware, and this is important to understand my perspective throughout, is that it might be small but it's schizophrenic to a fault. Maryland, well you knew this was a liberal state. Though that state did, ahem, recently elect a Republican Governor. New Jersey to the north, also very liberal. Delaware is very liberal to the north and increasingly conservative in its south.

Husband and I live in Sussex county, about eight miles from Rehobeth Beach and Lewes. Thus we are affected by tourism and all involved with that. Georgetown is five miles to our west and it's staid and simple compared to the oceanfront areaa. Sussex county has been undergoing a major population boom over the past five years, most of it caused by persons just like husband and myself. Middle aged, mostly conservative, economically flush and generally law-abiding.

Wilmington, even Dover, may as well be in California for how they relate to Delaware's south.

Living in "lower and slower" has its benefits, however. I smile every time I take a leisurely drive through Georgetown's Circle. Even a jaunt down Route 1, through Lewes, Rehobeth, Bethany, it's an interesting, sometimes nerve-wracking, journey.

Both husband and I were dismayed to discover that the small state's politicians were notoriously liberal, with a virtual nanny for a Governor and a camera hog for a Senator. That would be Minner and Biden.

Recently, Governor Minner declared Sussex county as being hostile territory. That was the day I became a Delaware citizen, in my mind though already by law. A local conservative radio guy had a mole in the Minner office and somehow weaseled out the information that Minner would not be a guest on his show because of, well that bit about hostile Sussex county. Nothing brings us together like a good war, and Governor Minner has declared war on my county.

Delaware soil is way better than Maryland soil, at least that silt on the lot where I lived. They call it a swamp, sometimes a marsh. But the flowers, given some sun and rain, love the thick mucky stuff. Bird life in Delaware is vastly different from my old home though I hasten to note that in Maryland I lived on a small cove off of the Chesapeake Bay. There are more pine trees in Delaware, thus more pine siskins and gold finches. Last summer husband and I listened for fifteen minutes to a whippoorwill singing his heart in the dead of night. I thought these birds were only in Arizona or some such.

I love having the raucous of the beach resort close enough to take visitors for a happy jaunt. Though one must be cautious of the plethora of visitors only too happy to share a nice house during a weekend getaway.

Husband and I both love it here in schizoid Delaware. I even take a bit of pride when Joe Biden graces my screen with his phony smile and fake hair. Dang, I think, this state with only three electoral votes has this self-important senator getting all this face time.

So there's hope, as husband and I dream. Republicans and Democrats have a long history of strong cooperation in Delaware. It could work.

There were times when I would look at a map and note Delaware's odd outline, a straight line carved out of Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, to the end of a thumb-shaped peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. I often wondered "Why bother?"

Husband and I are glad they did.

Pat Fish is a Delaware Blogger recently featured in the Delaware Coast Press' article on blogging. Her Blog is titled "The Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog". Don't let the name confuse you. For while she does direct her interesting commentary to her granddaughter who is only one year old, the punditry is aimed to obliquely point out how the decisions we make today affect our children of tomorrow.Fish writes of politics, birds, gardens, cooking and pop culture on her Blog. Below is a link to her Blog. If you'd like to put on a list for notification of updates to the Blog, send an email to patfish1@aol.com

Pat Fish's Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog

Misuse of Blog Comments

We encourage the exchange of ideas through the use of this blog and the comment function we have installed, even if your views and ideas differ from mine. But there are a few people out there who are inserting their commercial advertisements and other irrelevant postings in the guise of comments. This type of misuse of the blog comment function is not welcome, and not permitted. I have enough trouble avoiding pop-ups without having these silly things invade my own site. Thank you for your cooperation. All violators of this policy will be banned and the offending entries will be deleted.

Happy Birthday #3

Well, it crept up on me! This month is the 3rd anniversary of the Delawoffice Blog. We are in the final stages of planning the party. I look forward to sharing the pictures with you in the upcoming weeks.

not yet in the news?

A reliable source has reported that a veteran U.S. Customs officer was just arrested allegedly attempting to pass through the Washington State - Canada border with a van filled with over 500 pounds of marijuana. Apparently the rookie inspector was not deterred by the senior uniformed customs officer and his diplomatic passport. The rookie did his job as was taught to him at the academy, and caught the alleged bad guy. Good Job!

Encounter with a Blogger

Bloggers make up a growing, but yet small community. That's why I was pleased and surprised to find myself chatting at the courthouse with a fellow blogger-attorney, and one that we had linked to no less. Amy, of Salvation Amy - blog was doing the courthouse lobby search for the client with me this morning (a traditional attorney sport). We were sharing notes about the general appearance of our respective clients so as to help each other locate them. In the process we had a nice chat, and we discovered that we knew of each other in the blog world.

Well, that's the warm and fuzzy feeling for the day. You get no more. The Quota has been met.

Here There Be Pirates

Delaware is home to some famous illustrators of pirates.

Today's Wilmington News Journal has a nice piece on efforts of family members of one of them to catalog all of his works. Frank E. Schoonover was a student of Howard Pyle, and created many covers and interior illustrations for books and magazines.

The newspaper has a nice history of efforts to locate some of his works, which he often sold after they were returned to him by publishers of the books and magazines they appeared upon. See: Illustrator's kin on trail of lost art

If you would like to see one of his paintings, and you find yourself in Wilmington, there's a large mural by him on display in the New Castle County Court House.

Welcome to Funkytown

When I came across the following single page newsletter from the newest Mayor of the City of Newark, I had intended to copy it here. As an official municipal document, I figured it was in the public domain.

Somehow my copy got misplaced before I could transcribe it on the web.

The Mayor and the City Coucil have been having a rather rocky adjustment period as he becomes used to their style of operating the city, and he tries to do some things his own unique way.

I'm not sure I the City Council had a chance to look at this first issue before it was published, and I don't know if another followed behind it.

I've been keeping my eyes open, but it's possible that I missed the latest version. If I come across a newer one, I'll post that too.

I know that Larry hadn't seen a copy; I'm publishing this so that he does.

Funkytown Gazette

Musings from Mayor Vance Funk of Newark, Delaware
June 25, 2004

Vol. 1, No. 1

Reflections on the first 60 days

• Only 61 City Council meetings to go.



• Yes, you did actually see the street cleaner on Main Street last Saturday, cleaning the street and sidewalks. And, yes, you actually did see a City trash truck last Saturday afternoon emptying the trashcans on Main Street. Remember to make a difference by picking up litter in our communities.



• If you haven't met me yet, I'm on Main Street sayng hello to everyone. It's really fun, because it's not expected. You would be surprised how much better you lookwith a smile.



• For residents wh are participating in the "Find the City Police Car with Installed Radar," the correct answer is car 900. All the other answers are wrong. What you see in the front window is a camera.



• Yes, you did actuall see me on Chapel Street with WILMAPCO and DELDOT representatives, and they have agreed to investigate using the land under the second trestle for a possible extension of the right-turn lane. They also agree that Cleveland Avenue could be three lanes between North College Avenue and New London Road, to help ease the gridlock every morning on Cleveland Avenue.



• For those of you who answered "Bethany Beach" to the question, "Which Delaware town has more thatn 1,000 residents and the fewest radar units," you're wrong for two reasons:
  
  
  1. Bethany Beach does not have more than 1,000 full time residents.
  
  
  2. With six radar units, Bethany Beach has more units than several other cities.



• If there is a need, I would like to donate my $8,400 salary to the Newark Police Department.



• Yes, the DELDOT Design group is studying the Amstel/South College avenues intersection with the hope that a left trun lean, northbound onto South college, can be created, to make it easier to get to the Schilling-Douglas School of Hair Design and The Trap. They also are exploring the possibility that the light will stay green on South College Avenue unless needed for pedestrian crossings. This way, my friends in Covered Bridge Farms can stop using Orchard Road as a shortcut.



• Traffic Studies: Imagine someone racing down Orchard or Beverly roads at 40 m.p.h., approaching Winslow Avenue and finding themselves in the middle of a traffic study. Maybe they would start using South College Avenue and Elkton Road. Why do so many cars use these roads? We need a traffic Study to find out. To do a traffic study, you need two students, one police officer, on traffic study sign and quetionnaires to fill out, which I'm sure WILMAPCO can give us. You can use the students in my office: four hours, three times a week, for four to six weeks. You will be amazed how much information you will receive. I'm sure we cn get Mr. Norton to help us! (And, yes, I did traffic studies for two summers while in college/law school for the organization that predated WILMAPCO.)



• Hope you enjoyed "your" newsletter from the "funkytown Press." The "I's" are out, and "You" can make a difference. Say hello to our neighbors, friends and visitors. Pick up litter. Be ready to help us as we create a more positive image. Please Recycle.

New-ark...A Wonderful Place to Live

• Next Funkytown Gazette topics:
  1. Conservation -- What can we do?
  2. The students are coming.
  3. Lawsuits -- Why is "the insurance company paid" relevant?