I’ve written before about confederate flags flying here in Conshohocken, and the one I wrote about before is now gone. But on East 9th Street here in Conshohocken, another one appeared. To me it’s as bad as flying a swastika – and we know that wouldn’t fly, would it?
Monday I came home to the wonderful odor of skunk permeating through the house. No big deal. I’ve lived in Conshohocken for 10 years now, and one thing you get used to is the smell of skunks in the fall. Yes, the smell gets into your clothes. Yes, you get complaints about the smell from your co-workers and the homeless, but it generally isn’t that bad.
This wasn’t a general situation.
Last night I came home to find my neighbor Gloria freaking out because of the smell that lingered 36 hours later. I can’t say that I blame her – her co-workers smelled skunk, as did the people sitting next to her on the train. (Febreeze Gloria!) Anyway, I figured I’d take a run through the estate to see if I could find anything. I didn’t expect to find the dead skunk underneath the deck. My parents have owned a house for almost 40 years and maybe a dead rabbit or mouse, but this city boy was not prepared for dead skunk. What to do about the dead skunk? Fortunately my neighbor’s landlord is a little more handy than I am when dealing with roadkill. He scooped, I bagged, he drove it to a dumpster (I need to get him a nice Christmas gift).
Anyway, 60 hours later, still kind of stinky in the house. I’d like to go under the house and seal the hole the skunks get into, but there’s no promise there aren’t two more hanging out in there with their buddy the possum (I’m not kidding – you’d think I live in the country). So on Saturday comes the trappers to capture and relocate the skunk(s). (Don’t ask me if they kill them – I’m told no, but I’m not sure I believe it).
See what happens when you can’t find something write about – it crawls right into your lap.
I live in the lovely borough of Conshohocken (Con-show-hock-en), PA. I know sarcasm is tough in writing, but trust me that statement is sarcastic. While I like living there because of the relatively low taxes, central location, and the city-like atmosphere – Conshy is an interesting paradox – a yuppie enclave, that is also a blue-collar stronghold. $400,000 condos across the street from some of the grittiest bars you can find. City council meetings where fist fights break out. Once a guy waved at me while driving – one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand clutching a beer. You get the idea.
The blue-collar home owners have been selling their homes at a pretty profit over the past few years (good for them – it’s made windfalls for people that normally wouldn’t get them) which leads to some interesting situations; one of which is the subject of this post. For as long as I’ve lived in Conshy there’s been an idiot on Hector street that has a confederate flag hung over his porch. Last week their neighbor put their house up for sale. You have to feel for any realtor trying to sell someone into this house. At least you know what you’re walking into if you do buy.
I find the confederate flag more insulting when it’s displayed outside the south. To me it is a blatant, bigoted statement. It’s the American version of the swastika. For it to be prominently displayed over the front door tells me all I need to know.
Of course as bad as this all is, I wonder about the person that will sign on the dotted line and move in knowing that their neighbor is a bigot.
Get your minds out of the gutter. It’s been raining cats and dogs here for the last few weeks. I took a few pics walking around Conshohocken a couple of days ago. Here are some I liked.
Here are some more photos on Flickr
I promised Merujo that I’d post this picture. It’s at the Metroplex in Conshy and if you can’t tell why it’s funny – read it out loud.
