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alex noble
May 2008 
NOTES: Small Towns
Posted on May 29th, 2008
by 
AlexNoble
AlexNoble
We are losing our small towns, the same way we are losing family farms, topsoil, and a feeling for what Christopher Alexander calls "human scale." I had almost forgotten how a small town works, until today, when I had an urgent need to get some information from a teacher I had studied with many years ago. All I remember is that he moved away, to Sagebrush, which is a very small town about two hours north of the not small town I endure, because it is on the ocean. Arthur, the subject of my search, is a tall, tall man who loves jazz and used to be a force in the jazz society here. He is kind and gracious. Emboldened by my memory of what a thoroughly good person he is, I had a feeling that someone in Sagebrush would surely know if he still lived there and how I could find him, even though I had forgotten his last name. And so, knowing that I was entering small town territory, which is different than not small town territory, I did what seemed to be the obvious: I called the County Sherriff's Office. Deputy Robbins answered. Realizing I might sound like a nut case, I jumped right in. "I am trying to find my former teacher Arthur, who moved up your way about 20 years ago, but I have forgotten his last name. I can tell you that he is very tall, perhaps 6'6" or so, loves jazz, and is a kind and good person. Do you happen to know him?" Deputy Robbins, being a classic small town sherriff, didn't miss a beat. "Oh," he said, "You must be looking for Arthur Blake. Lovely fellow. My grandson is in his Fifth Grade Class over at the elementary school. Here's the number." Small towns. Big hearts.
Alex Noble
Photo by Alex Noble
Photo by Alex Noble
Access: Public
A lovely photograph, and a heartwarming piece. Thank you for sharing this.
Take care,
I.
As long as the good sheriff didn't say, “Oh yes, you must be looking for Arthur Blake, the one who's running around with Charley Brennan's wife. Tell him Charley would like to talk with him.”
Seriously though, Alex, you evoke a time and a place whose like, as you correctly point out, has all but disappeared. I don't even know my next door neighbor's name. I grew up in Philadelphia, and on a summer's evening, it was common for the neighbors to gather on each other's postage stamp-sized patios and pass the time agreeably. Television and air-conditioning put an end to that. The Internet is cool and ATMs are convenient, but each new technological advance also seems to pry our hands away from the human touch.