I would like to propose some attention for the banks of the stream. Usually, I like to listen to the wisdom of others, then put it into my own words, which are usually not as good as their words. But because my words are more or less passable and because The Cincinnati Enquirer provides a generous supply of ink, those are the words you usually get from me. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoted, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happens on the banks.
Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.
My e-mail, my voice mail and my snail mail are filled with news from the banks. A home health care nurse called to say she and some of her cohorts ignored the citywide curfew. Patients were depending on them. The Shriners are gearing up to help park cars at the Cincinnati Flower Show, which begins Wednesday in Ault Park. This is just one of the Shriners' projects that help pay for the extraordinary care available free of charge at Shriners Hospitals for Children.