Each Others Shelter

My apologies to my national readers, who may not care about my favorite Irish tavern going kaput. Businesses come and go, restaurants close their doors, and neighborhoods change. But we had our wedding rehearsal dinner there. Yes the Guinness could be cheaper, but I'm just attached to the place.

The good news is - The Dubliner is supposed to re-open under new management before St. Patrick's Day. The owner of the property seems to have a genuine interest in keeping the brand name, and making sure this city neighborhood (so long in the balance) retains a strong commercial center. Tonight and tomorrow there will be one last hurrah for the Old Dubliner, and in the proudest (and completely fake) tradition we hope there will be many toasts and blessings offered by people with not a lick of Irish blood.

The bad news - well that's somebody's business - literally, and in the vernacular. A local family is facing difficult times, and people have lost their jobs. And this is where we hope - and many of us pray - that the community does what the community does best, which is simply reach out to help each other along. A neighborhood is a network, one which runs on information, commerce, and a measured compassion for the well-being of each other.

My conservative friends can berate me for being a starry-eyed hippie, but I think if we are more successful in creating that environment locally - it will continually build a stronger country in the aggregate. It's not a new idea, really - though we discuss it these days on weblogs and email.