This winter, I've watched all of the third season of Northern Exposure. Remember? That 1990's television town; Cicely, Alaska. Joel, Maggie, Chris, Holling, Ruth Ann, Ed, Marilyn, all of them. I loved it then and it speaks to me still. In each episode Chris, the local radio station disc jockey/spiritual leader of Cicely connected life to literature, be it through Curious George or The Call of the Wild, finding meaning in the pages, translating life lessons. Everyday life in an isolated community didn't seem isolated at all. Instead, the very opposite.
I stopped in at Bocconato on Friday and visited Giovanni. Hearing about the hustle and bustle of their Monday nights reminded me of "The Brick". Okay, no beer, no darts, a more worldly menu, but a small community gathering place, ripe with laughter, stories, characters, and even singing at the corner table.
I wish that they had rebuilt our old logging town and the old Fair Play Hotel when it burned years ago. Maybe we will one day.
