Skimming

Leaves had come up to the surface and I was scooping them out. It's a mindless task. The kind I quite enjoy. Like chipping ice off a driveway . Or sweeping a vast expanse. Or digging dandelions while seated on the grass.

It's a rhythm. Steady and productive. You don't have to bend or kneel or pull. You can see results as you go. While your mind occupies with whatever happens to pop in.

I had some concerns about talking about people who left the town's employ. Some of the departures were already in the public domain. Like Municipal Clerk Lucille King and CAO John Rogers.

Nothing negative was said. There was nothing negative to say. I simply re-affirmed publicly known facts

I was challenged by Guy Poppe to name staff and reveal details of their exodus.He questioned my rationale of privacy.

Much of judgement is gut instinct. Immediate reaction. I search for the rationale after the fact.

Sometimes I'm right,sometimes not.

Something new popped into my head yesterday when I was skimming. It's a bit like the poor man's sport of rowing...with one arm...which in rowing... would take me round in circles.

Anyway,another reason for caution about privacy came into my head.

Google!!

It seems when a name is mentioned on line, it's immediately scooped up by the internet.

Like the mindless task of skimming.

It's a long way from the days of wandering minstrels. They had to sing the news to people in rhymes and riddles and jingles, on pain of prosecution.

Free speech was an unknown quantity. Certainly no opportunity to complain to an Integrity Commissioner....at taxpayers' expense.