Cityside: "The State I'm In" and celebrating Norwich's beauty
You can be forgiven for not knowing this as it was announced five shopping days before Christmas when we may have had other things on our minds, but the State of Connecticut's Office of Tourism has a marketing campaign currently to promote winter tourism, called "The State I'm In."
As someone born and raised where we had all four seasons, often in the same afternoon, and who as an adult admittedly keeps his enthusiasm for winter activities at about the same level as the mercury measuring the temperature for said activities, I'll concede it is a great name and idea for a campaign (that I also always hum as much of The Band's tune of nearly the same name as I can recall, is just a happy happenstance, OK?). If winter is the weather that we have, why not brag about it, since complaining isn't going to change it.
Admittedly, Norwich is not synonymous with winter sports though, like your kids, I'll bet, mine spent many a snowy afternoon hurtling down the hill at Buckingham School on sleds and on one memorable day, a large piece of cardboard whose steering and stepping capabilities were greatly exaggerated, giving that fence just above the sidewalk on Washington Street a real workout, and probably causing a few moments of anxiety for drivers.
We didn't visit the Norwich Golf Course that often but whenever it was snow-covered, you could be sure it would also shortly be sled-covered as well (not sure about cross-country skiers, but the more the merrier), and I expect every neighborhood has a spot for enjoying all that "no business like snow business" stuff.
The Connecticut Office of Tourism wants all of us to post photos of our winter wonderland wanderings with #StateImInCT on the various social media platforms we enjoy; not that I need any encouragement or incitement to so do.
Over a decade ago I got fed up with the bad-mouthing and self-loathing that goes on too much around here and created a Facebook Page that I called Celebrating Norwich Connecticut, because we really and truly do have a lot of very nice things that maybe if we'd stopped bellyaching about what we don't have, we’d actually find the time to enjoy.
So, between wintry mixes last Wednesday (the day the skies cleared, though the winds were whipping, and the sun came out), I incorporated a stop at the Lower Falls of Uncas Leap at the Yantic River into my walk around the neighborhood. I am really looking forward to the spring and the start of the next chapter in the creation of the Uncas Leap Heritage Park, but in the meantime, I realized yet again how remarkably beautiful the Lower Falls is, especially as the ice builds across the gorge and the moisture in the fall's mist coats the rocks and brush on the far side.
I can't even imagine how awed the English settlers must have been when the region's natives first shared its beauty and majesty with them. Like the Harbor, Mohegan Park, the Greenville Dam, and at least a dozen other places across Norwich, sometimes words do fail to capture how beautiful where we live truly is. I keep reminding myself this is the #StatetImInCT. You should too.
Bill Kenny, of Norwich, writes a weekly column about Norwich issues. His blog, Tilting at Windmills, can be accessed at NorwichBulletin.com.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Cityside: "The State I'm In" and celebrating Norwich's beauty
