A Town of Its Own Name

In the middle of Deerfield is an intersection of roads; One street Waukegan Road, the other Deerfield Road. The roads intersect to make four corners where upon one of those corners resides a square. Original minds of Deerfield came together to give this square a title, for giving it a name is what you do with such places. The "who's who" of Deerfield decided on the banal Deerfield Square. In order for a person living on Deerfield Road to arrive at Deerfield Square it is necessary to travel down the road on which that person resides, namely Deerfield Road.

And "blah blah" I could go on. A pattern quickly forms, a pattern that is evident in my life. Anything I do, anywhere I go involves Deerfield. For example, one of my favorite places to go on my days off (can you say "days off" when you have no job?) is Deerfield Library. I travel down Deerfield Road to arrive at Deerfield Library. Before arriving at Deerfield Library I pass by Dearfield Village Hall and Police Station. Parked in the parking lot of the Village Hall are cars with wonderful letters spelling out Deerfield. I sigh in relief to find that at the very least the parks are not all Deerfield Park #1, #2, #3, and so on.

I am not sure why this has caught my attention. Perhaps it's because I feel like a tourist in my own town. I go to the local Walgreens to find "Deerfield" printed on shirts two-for-ten-dollars. A person could visit Panama City or Alcatraz and find the same thing.

Perhaps my attention has been tickled because of redundancy. If a village hall is located inside city limits could not a simple person figure it out? It's like getting to a register in a store and finding a sign stating the register is indeed that store's. Of course, if the register is inside that store it must be that store's register, not some other competitor's register.

Above all of this complaining I still love this town. Sometimes I am nothing but a complaining jukebox, put the quarter in and I start. Just west and east of my apartment are trails for me to ride. Moreover, as I spoke about earlier, the library is great and a place I frequent. Deerfield Cyclery, a bike shop in downtown Deerfield, is a great place with great people. Chicago is a 20 minute hike down 41. I could keep going on. Every settlement, town, city, state, country is going to have downfalls. The greener grass is always irresistable, we quickly run to the other side only to find the other side is still on the other side (imagine looking in a mirror that is looking in a mirror). After all, most of us live in a town of its own name.

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