Fantastick

[from blog reader in Raleigh]
"I just finished a delightful book, The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks, America's Longest Running Play.
"I'm writing to share with you not the story, but what I found in the next-to-last chapter, beautifully written by journalist Linda Ellerbe: 'Will Durant said civilization is a stream with banks. He said the stream is sometimes filled with blood from people's killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, rear children, sing songs, write poetry and whittle statues. He said historians (and journalists) are pessimists because they ignore the banks of the river. But the story of civilization, he said, is the story of what happened on the banks.'
"Ellerbe continues: 'Sixteen years ago I saw The Fantasticks for the first time. This week, I will see it for the sixteenth time. Why? Because at least once a year I need to be reminded about the importance of what goes on on the banks and how to get back to them. Deep in December, it's nice to remember. The rest of the time, it's necessary.'"