It’s yet another Friday and sometimes the July Sun hits you right in the face.
☀️Dorothy Had the Right Idea
In 1939 Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” She wasn’t even referring to the Emerald City, she was talking about Kansas.
Young Miss Gale wanted to leave an Emerald City in the land of Oz with a wizard, but we Marysvilleans live by a different Emerald City in the county of King. Said city hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last Tuesday, and from what I’ve read, she cleaned up some of her hypodermic needles and homeless camps to be a bit more presentable for the visitors.
The hometown team is the Mariners, of course, and one of their ongoing social media campaigns is looking for fans to post #WhereIRoot. As a verb “to root” means to cheer, to support. The hashtag does double-duty since the Mariners’ games are broadcast on the Root Sports Network. So the idea is that a Mariners fan posts a picture of himself/his crew rooting for the team from some far off location and adds the tag. My son wanted to post from the top of Arthur’s Seat when he was in Scotland a couple weeks ago.
I appreciate the #WhereIRoot engagement. It also gets me thinking about a third sense of root, not just lifting up a team or the name of a cable channel, but putting down, deeply and firmly, roots in one’s place. Marysville is not just where I root for the Mariners, but where I’m plant my roots. It’s where I love, the place I love and the place where I am loving my people.
As I’ve shared some in the last few issues of the Sun, I traveled with my son as part of a group to the U.K. and northern France. It was a great trip, a fantastic time, and my second “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to see a bunch of historical places. Though we moved fast and only got glimpses of many things, it wasn’t an escape from home, it was actually helpful to remember what’s so great about home.
It’s attributed to Mark Twain that “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Ben Sasse described it as “leaving your native geography and topography, experiencing those differences, and expanding your mental suitcase.”
Seeing Ripon Cathedral—established as a monastery by St. Wilfrid in 672, with different styles of architecture mixed and matched due to stages of building and rebuilding—reminds one that big projects may take decades, if not centuries. All the corners might not come together perfectly, and they don’t need to in order to be useful and enduring. Seeing Pointe du Hoc—one of the strategic landing points for the 2nd Ranger Battalion on D-Day—reminds one that beautiful places may temporarily become battle places because of evil men, but that men who make great sacrifices, even to the shedding of blood, may change the whole story.
Those are just a couple examples, and baseball before it. But Marysville is #WhereIRoot, it’s Where I Love. Dorothy had the right idea.
☀️Recent Updates
Mayor Nehring introduces a refresh to Harborview Park.
Strawberry Fields looks good and perma-green with the new turf.
☀️Local Events
Food Trucks at Comeford Park - the first one started last Tuesday, but there’s three to come. More info here.
All-Comers Track Meets - the first one started last night (it was great!), with two more Thursdays. More info here.
National Night Out - Tuesday, August 1, 6:00pm at Jennings Park - See the city’s announcement here, and the Sun’s coverage of last year’s event here.
☀️Friday Fun
Nihilistic furniture:
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I just read this after having made an Instagram/Facebook post about that there really is no place like home! I loved the broadening of my horizons, but I am happy to be back where I belong!