My World Tuesday: Bookish People Looking after Their Own

A friend thinks it's strange that I want to live in Waterbury, where I spend most of my life anyway. People are violent--they beat each other for food stamps, babies roll out 3rd-floor windows--and there is a madness about the place we can attribute only to the water. There are brown fields everywhere. This is a wasteland.

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I like to think of the place as idiosyncratic. It is to rich in too many ways to simply be mad. I mean, consider the quirky Christmas decorations above. Idiosyncratic, right?

Richness. Look below: In the center display window of a bookshop on Grand Street is a request for food for people who don't have enough this time of year. Here we go putting the other guy first without the slightest danger of personal gain. Yes, I like it here, where people like the woman below are not going to the aiport or train station with their luggage but to the next safe place with everything they own in tow. The people at the bookstore noticed that, obviously. And they're appealing to the lawers, civil servants, and others who frequent their coffee shop to think about it, too. Curse the darkness? Not me, and not when the light is so good.

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42 Comments

  1. That's what I love about you Sandy. You light a candle while those around you curse the darkness.

    Rather, perhaps you are the candle.

    Yes, I think that may be it.

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  2. i second mojo...:)..
    take care;)

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  3. Excellent post Sandy. So very well put!

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  4. We use to forget that there are many people amoung us who can't celebrate Christmas and always have hungry, and this in the 21th century.

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  5. Beautiful post, Sandy. I can tell you have a very warm heart!

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  6. I agree totally with Mojo and the others! You are a light in this world, Sandy, and how much better world this would be if there were more like you!

    Peace and blessings to you!

    Sylvia

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  7. I agree with you Sandy. I have often thought that there is a far greater sense of community amongst people in areas where people have very little than in places where people have a lot. (And I love those quirky Christmas decorations too!)
    Janice.

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  8. I think Mojo summed it up perfectly. You're a beautiful lady, Sandy.

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  9. Let your light shine ! There is so much want and darkness around that if we ourselves neglect to carry the candle, it can never be dispelled.

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  10. a sense of community among the poor and overlooked for each other-the true spirit of the season

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  11. All I can do is echo what everyone else has said and may your light shine bright

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  12. Great attitude -- I think they call that catching the Christmas spirit!!!!!!!

    I was paying my rent at a bank other than the one I bank at and saw a food barrel there. I am fortunate to have enough for myself so I went home and made two trips back and forth with 7 bags of canned food for those less fortunate. I hope it helps a bit to make someone's Christmas a little brighter.

    Blessings to you and daughter this Christmas and always!

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  13. Good for you, great attitude, beautiful post

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  14. Mojo is right and I second that too. I love this post.

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  15. I totally agree with Mojo!

    The best post about Christmas I've read Sandy.

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  16. Beautiful, you provide the light where it is needed most.

    Bhojeshwar Temple, Bhojpur

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  17. Love this post sandy, a true spirit of christmas

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  18. Love the humanity in this post Sandy. This is what the season is about. Merry Christmas to you and everyone in Waterbury.
    Sandi

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  19. Great post and I would have to agree with MoJo and everyone else too.

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  20. Your post is profoundly moving, Sandy. Its a nice way of reminding us to count our blessings and do what we can to help others that are less fortunate.

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  21. u think where u live with madness try chicago on the back streets but goodness can bw foub any where

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  22. Blizzaed tomorrow sunshine today I look at life this way

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  23. I am what I an said oopee the sailar man

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  24. Be frank what do u think about my stories? I mean think Sandy!

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  25. Sandy: Certainly an interesting place.

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  26. your books and my beach equals heaven. have a nice day.

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  27. Sad, glad though that somebody is trying to make a difference.

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  28. Poignant reminder for us all. Thanks for your wisdom, insight, and generosity ;-)
    Hugs and blessings,
    My World

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  29. there's just two way of seeing things. looking at the brighter side is a choice.

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  30. Love how you see richness in a wasteland. Great post, Sandy.

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  31. You never cease to amaze! I love the love you have!

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  32. Anonymous1:17 AM

    you are very thoughtful, nice and sweet..

    i feel lucky to know you..

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  33. Sandy, I always look at your posts with great interest, both for the nice images and the inspiring texts.

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  34. Yes, I believe there is good in any situation if we only look for it. An excellent post.

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  35. Lovely decorations, great words and I like the generosity of thought!

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  36. thoughtful and interesting words Sandy!

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  37. I used to drive by Waterbury on my way from NY to Boston. You first make the place scary, but then show up the warmth when take us really look deep into.

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  38. Lovely post, glad I came back or I would have missed this :)

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  39. Thanks for reminding us once again of the true meaning of Christmas Sandy!

    And thanks also for your visit to my windows post. Glad you enjoyed the apartments squeezed against each other!

    I have enjoyed your posts on the berries, and the gravestones below, and catching up here in general. I am wondering if we might have driven through Waterbury on our car trip through Vermont, MA, and Connecticut one year. The name sounds familiar. I must look for it on google!

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  40. That pages of book decoration, my daughter then 19 did the same thing. She had two books of the same title. One day, she stuck pages down her window frame.

    I had to keep quiet, if she was younger, I would _____

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  41. What a purposeful life you live there, Sandy. I had no idea until I read this post. I've also just realised you're the "Sandy" in My World Tuesday. Thanks for that lovely meme. Thanks for sharing this post. That is one of the reasons why I'm learnt to make Challah. My family and I are going to emulate the Shabbat meal on the 25th. I've simplify completely this year. No Christmas rush and madness, no pigging out, no maxed out credit cards trying to impress others with fancy gifts. Oh your post has made me more resolute than ever. Thanks and bless you for all you're doing in your area. (((Hugs))) Jo

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  42. quirky Indeed, using pages of a book for decoration.

    my teen aged daughter was given two copies of The Hunch back of Notre-Dame which she loved reading.

    She has pages torn and pasted on her wall. I didn't say anything to keep the peace.

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Thanks for being here.