Welcome back to standard time. Setting the clocks back an hour last weekend was a welcome change for this Narrowsburg mom. It’s much easier to justify an early bedtime when it’s dark at 6 p.m., and easier to be on time in the morning when the sun’s coming up at 6 a.m.

During the past few days, the landscape throughout Narrowsburg was as beautiful as it’s ever been. The yellow maples and rust orange oaks were almost too vibrant to believe. During breaks in the rain, rainbows were reported all across town. Speaking of rain, we sure have had a lot of it the past couple months. According to Weather Underground, during the month of September, we received almost seven inches of rain, twice the average. In the past three months we’ve had 18 inches of rain. I just keep reminding myself, at least it’s not snow!

The Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce is building a new website, and they are looking for great photos of Narrowsburg to represent our town in the best light. If you’ve taken some special shots in Tusten (not just in town, but the woods and streams, too), please send high-resolution, un-watermarked photos to danielle@truefoodcollective.com. Photo credit will be given.

On the Facebook page “Narrowsburgians Unite,” one area resident commented that she hopes the new Narrowsburg website “does not cause an influx of tourists to mess up this precious place. My idea for where I live in Shohola is a bumper sticker that says, “Welcome to our town. Now that you have seen it, go home!”

It’s an interesting argument that I’ve heard in various iterations over years. The thinking goes, if we make our town too nice or show it in too positive a light, it will attract too many “outsiders” who will somehow ruin it. One of my neighbors recently suggested to me that by improving dilapidated homes in the Luxton Lake community, which was 50% unoccupied when I first moved here, I might end up spoiling things for others by increasing property values, thereby increasing taxes. The suggestion is I should leave things as they are; stop trying to make my community better.

I see things differently. I prefer to see inhabited, well-loved homes to over-abandoned, unsafe ones. I prefer to see restaurants full of people instead of boarded up commercial buildings. And I loved seeing the Narrowsburg Flats playground alive with hundreds of families on Halloween night for the Trunk or Treat hosted by the Tusten Youth Commission and the Beach Lake FM Church. It wasn’t too long ago that that playground was considered by many to be a waste of space, since there were very few kids here to use it.

From where I sit as a mom who lives, works and votes in Narrowsburg, I hope we continue to make Narrowsburg great, and attract people who love what our area has to offer: community, beauty, culture, fresh air and great businesses. I will continue to do what I can to help our beautiful area thrive and grow for decades to come.