{"id":5379,"date":"2014-01-29T16:49:08","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T21:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=5379"},"modified":"2014-02-19T17:49:04","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T22:49:04","slug":"inside-aurora-groundhog-daze-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-groundhog-daze-v\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Groundhog Daze V"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

Curious to see how the trees in the arboretum had survived the ice storm earlier this winter, I decided to go there for a stroll.
\nI thought I might also run into Aurora Annie, our local weather prognosticating groundhog, as she was often to be found in that area this time of year. And not surprisingly, there she was, perched on a bench, scribbling on some papers.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that you\u2019re working on?\u201d I asked, sitting down next to her. \u201cAre these the weather forecasts and other information you use to predict if winter will be around for another six weeks?\u201d
\n\u201cNo,\u201d she said, signing the top page. \u201cI\u2019m putting in my nomination papers to run as a candidate for Aurora Council.\u201d
\n\u201cCouncil!\u201d I exclaimed, looking over at the document.
\n\u201cYup. The nomination period just opened this month, and I wanted to make it official as soon as possible.\u201d
\n\u201cBut you\u2019re in the weather business. What do you know about Aurora politics?\u201d
\n\u201cYou forget I\u2019ve been around for ages. I\u2019ve seen councils come and go. Why, Dick Illingworth and I used to discuss this sort of stuff all the time.\u201d
\n\u201cBesides,\u201d she noted, spreading her little furry arms wide, \u201chow different is politics to weather? You just predict which way the winds are blowing, and go in that direction.\u201d
\n\u201cI figured it was time for me to get involved,\u201d she continued, shuffling her papers into the correct order. \u201cThere are some big issues I think should be discussed this year to help out the town.
\n\u201cLike what?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cWell, for starters, artificial turf playing fields.\u201d
\n\u201cI guess they are kind of expensive to install.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the cost, it\u2019s the taste!\u201d
\nSeeing my startled expression, she continued, \u201cThere are a lot of Aurorans out there like me that eat grass. I don\u2019t know what those fields are made out of but they taste awful. I think there should be mandatory requirements in all future Town requests for proposals for new fields that they be better flavoured.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure that issue will be at the top of voters\u2019 priority lists.\u201d
\n\u201cWell then here\u2019s an idea that has a lot of merit,\u201d she said. \u201cAurora needs another leash-free park.\u201d
\n\u201cIsn\u2019t Canine Commons big enough?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cNo, not for dogs. For cats.\u201d
\n\u201cCats!\u201d I exclaimed.
\n\u201cYeah. Avoiding local foxes and coyotes is bad enough, but people let their cats roam free all over town. It makes smaller wildlife like myself uneasy\u201d, she said, taking a nervous glance over her shoulder.
\n\u201cBut, instead of banning cats completely, which was my first solution, by the way, I decided we needed a solution that would work for everybody. I can understand that residents like their cats, and want to give them some freedom, but the rest of my fellow animals have rights in Aurora, too. What better way to make everyone happy than via a designated leash-free cat park?\u201d
\n\u201cI suppose that\u2019s one way to look at it.\u201d
\n\u201cOh, I have lots of similar ideas that will get the public talking.\u201d
\nI was sure of that, if the rest of her ideas were in the same vein.
\nNot wanting to spoil her enthusiasm, as she packed up notes and hopped off the bench, I just commented, \u201cWell, that certainly is a unique platform you have.\u201d
\n\u201cThanks,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cI better get off and file these papers.\u201d
\nAs I watched her head off towards Town Hall, I wasn\u2019t sure if Aurora was ready to have a rodent on Council, and tastier artificial turf, and leash-free cat parks may not be the key issues on people\u2019s minds this election, but I guess that\u2019s all up to the voters to decide.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston Curious to see how the trees in the arboretum had survived the ice storm earlier this winter, I decided to go there for a stroll. I thought I might also run into Aurora Annie, our local weather prognosticating groundhog, as she was often to be found in that area this time of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1oL","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-25 22:57:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}