a journal for thought and ideas, for commentary and images, for fiction observed and imagined http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings.html It was only a matter of time before local daily newspapers - the ones we used to count on for being a complete, accurate archive of essential community information, like the records of births and marriages and deaths - would realize that there's a pile of money to be made on death and dying and grief. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings210.html 02/28/08 Fourteen years ago, 52-year-old Joseph Mechare and his wife Sharon had a dream. Just married and living in Millerton, New York, where Joe had grown up in a working class family - his father was a carpenter and he had been trained in autobody repair - they wanted to start a new life together. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings209.html 06/15/06 In Berkshire County, Massachusetts, reputed rock-ribbed bastion of enlightened lifestyles, you can go to jail for two years for an offense that's the equivalent of a speeding ticket, especially if you are a foolish teenager, and have never had another offense. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings208.html 03/24/06 On warm spring days, when students at Allendale Elementary School in Pittsfield, Mass., break for recess, they can run down to a playground equipped with sparkling new jungle gyms and slides, and play games in a spacious recreation area, flat and broad, perfect for soccer, the whole circled by a track for strolling or jogging. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings207.html 02/20/06 For those of you who aren't familiar with this column of observations, scoops and queries - based at the moment in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts but spiced with freewheeling curiosity about the world at large - it's made up of items oftentimes suggested by readers. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings206.html 01/02/06 The other day, I got an e-mail from a former colleague now living in Canada. What the hell happened, she asked. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings205.html A few weeks ago, my town and baseball got divorced. It’s final, or appears to be, and it’s a shame, really. http://www.scribbyworld.com/bibblings204.html