President’s Message
Spring is in full swing. With warmer temperatures, sunnier days, and more hours of daylight, it’s an opportune time of the year to tidy up around the house, around the yard — and around the neighborhood.
One bit of spring cleaning taken on by our board was to form an ad hoc committee to update and reorganize the “Community Resources” page on the BWNA website (bwnapdx.org). Check it out for helpful telephone numbers and links.
For all of us, BWNA is sponsoring a spring cleaning event, including graffiti removal, on Friday, June 13, from 9 a.m. to noon, organized by board member Angela Frome. (See page 5 for details.)
Regarding removing graffiti in the neighborhood, I’d wager that the vast majority of Beaumont-Wilshire residents view graffiti as a selfish act of vandalism justifiably punishable by law. But the ubiquitous presence of graffiti throughout the world speaks to the other side of the coin — i.e., those to whom graffiti is both aesthetically pleasing and socially or politically warranted. Thus, one person’s eyesore is another person’s pride and joy, one person’s ideology is another’s outrage — a recipe for frustration, if not exasperation. American singer and musician Sheryl Crow sums it up well in “Soak up the Sun:”
Every time I turn around I’m lookin’ up, you’re lookin’ down Maybe something’s wrong with you That makes you act the way you do Maybe I am crazy too
To wit: In a letter to the editor printed in this issue, a resident expresses her dismay over an anonymous note left at her house critical of the appearance of her beloved garden. While a dispute over aesthetics may not be reconcilable, communicating about it can and should be done with civility and humility. (Maybe I am crazy, too?!)
Crow advises us to “lighten up” and “soak up the sun.” Alas, if life were only that easy.