When I was growing up, I heard many times, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’–in different circumstances but often about people. Sociological training at home. Skin color, clothes, part of town…

These days, I am the stranger, in a strange town. I live on a hillside, looking down on the town center. The largest, tallest building is the public school. And in this image you can see it bedecked with planter boxes overflowing with red and pink geraniums in flower.

It is obviously the most important building in town and most beautifully adorned and maintained. If I judge the people of this town by the care they have shown for the public school, have I made a mistake?

Public school as town center for the last century