In search of the elusive chipmunks

A township is elementary government; we are the next layer after the folks who elected us. Not only does the buck stop here, it often doesn't leave here as it didn't arrive. The only tax revenue a township may collect is real estate tax. My township has fewer than three hundred homes and possibly thirty taxable businesses properties left.

That’s it. The federal government and other non-taxable entities have acquired over ninety percent of the township’s property in the last forty years. There is no going back, and laments are not taxable, so we go forward.  I’m the fiscal officer, the person with no authority save ensuring the transparency of transactions.

Trustees have the power and the glory posts. Part time. That is, generally trustees have real jobs and administer the business of their townships a few evenings a month. Two thirds of my trustees have always been employed in other government jobs, more layers between them and the public. Bigger budgets, too. And, one-third of my trustees work in the real world, as I did for forty years before this job.

And, we gnash teeth and pull hair at the futility of making government employees understand money is saved in payroll, not in postage stamps. So, we soldier on, a person of no authority and a trustee minority. It is so futile I've considered chucking it, except now I have three grandchildren to keep in lunch money and stuff. And, who would be interested in my new project? No one!

My little old fashioned township has a little old fashioned web page. No bells and whistles, just real stuff. Boston Township has more past than future, and history is most visited. I believe we are the only remaining link to For All People for all Time, a documentary of the federal government’s shameful history of national park acquisition.

There is fun stuff, too, like interviewing old Boston residents to reconstruct the history of Boston Park, which I did last summer. I ran my new idea past the webmaster; he likes it.  A picture page. Bigger and better than all the little pictures we posted of our bicentennial a couple of years ago. The webmaster is working on turning my ideas into a page, and today was so beautiful I took my camera out to capture my opening picture, the chipmunks at the nursery across the road.

The nursery is beautiful, state of the art poly houses, more plants than Laura can ever select among. Out on the front patio, greeting customers all last summer, chipmunks. Little roly-poly chipmunks, fat cheeks bulging with seeds.  Their only danger is all the big feet, and they dart away swiftly. What better time than today to get a picture. Blue skies. White snow. A minimum of customers. And, a quickly amused manager, who told me the little fellows hibernate. Well, the page isn’t ready yet. Here are the pictures I did take today.

 In my yard.

  You looking at me? I'm looking at you, too.

 I didn't want to make a collage of the next pictures,

 So here they are, one after another.

I've seen this youngster around all fall and winter,

One of the last of the fawns.

It has a good shaggy coat, and an old wound on it's hind leg.

It's been a hard winter for the animals.

Lunch is pine needles and twigs.

It finally looked up.

I moved on.

There are goats down the road, 

So I went to see if they were out.

Yes.

The steps lead to

The Goaten Gate Bridge!

And on the way home the youngster

Ruminated over lunch.