After taking a couple weeks off from reporting, I found myself last week at the Cassville Aquatic Center for the last day of the Safety Around Water program. This is the fifth year of the partnership between the school and the Cassville Area YMCA, and we can’t think of a better summer school offering.

In the late spring and early summer, my office devolves into a racket at least three or four times a day. It’s not my almost-twoyear- old; she’s been in daycare for a while now despite an extra playpen and bouncer still taking up space in my office.

I once overheard Barry County described in a barbershop as a black hole that always pulls you back in after you thought you were out. I bet the Barry County Jail detainees who recently tried to vacate the vicinity early also feel this way.

Cassville has been in a difficult season. So many friends have suffered loss and trauma we feel a collective grief.

Very few people have the mental fortitude to handle the job Brian Martin has carried out since 2006. Retiring this spring after 39 total years on the job, Martin handles the kind of crime that typically does not pass the Cheerios test.

Spending countless hours over the years breaking down cardboard boxes has been both a tedious and rewarding experience for me. At first glance, it may seem like a mindless task, but it has become a therapeutic ritual that I’ve come to appreciate.

It’s June, and that means its vacation season. It’s the time of the year when families start loading up and heading somewhere to recharge from the daily hustle and bustle of our normal lives, or start planning for that blessed day.

The seasons of our lives are many. From Ecclesiastes 3, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven.”

The heart of Cassville has been exposed in the last two weeks, as we have faced tragedy after tragedy with little signs of slowing. The first break in the barrage came Sunday at the courthouse square, where more than 100 people gathered on just seven hours’ notice to grieve, love, support and uplift one another through whichever loss was affecting them most.