This bright yellow sign in a wintery streetscape sends a message of the normalcy of a community where children walk to school and neighbors keep watch on their neighborhood. It is easy to filter out such common messages from awareness.
I often take “normal” “ordinary” and “safe” for granted. I only appreciate messages of normalcy in its absence. It would be a good exercise for me if I looked around and took an inventory of what is ordinary in my neighborhood: trees along the street, stop signs on the corners, the muffled sounds of car traffic, parents walking their children to school, and and older children walking home together in pairs or in packs, and the sound of home repairs on the weekends or during summer holidays. Even if I don’t notice the signs and messages or normalcy, I take comfort in it until the usual and ordinary lose their moorings and begin to drift into uncharted waters.
