Hubbard Hall is this very unique arts center based in an old opera house on Main Street in Cambridge, my town. I teach classes there – the Hubbard Hall Writer’s Workshop, The Art Of The Blog and this Spring, The Short Story. It is the culture center of our town, there are all kinds of classes there, from drumming to Tai Chi to singing and dance and pottery. Walking on Main Street this morning, I ran into Benjie White, the retiring director of the Hubbard Hall Arts Center, he was raising a “now playing” banner announcing a performance of “Ondine,” the play currently being performed here by the theater’s acting company.

I told Benjie I had to take a photograph of this local rite, it was like the Royal Pendant announcing the Queen was in residence at Buckingham Palace. Benjie smiled, and I said it was  a banner for the play Ondine. “For Nelson,” he said, and turned and went inside the building. That was all he said to me.

I don’t feel the need to add to the chorus of comments about the death of Nelson Mandela, politicians on Twitter and all sorts of people on Facebook were heaping praise on him, including many politicians who didn’t seem to know Mandela despised many of the policies of the United States and consider us a violent, destructive and imperialist country. I don’t feel the world needs a comment from me about it.

But I was glad Benjie mentioned him on Main Street in my town, I did not expect it,  it is the sort of surprising thing that makes me love being here.