“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

How significant for today, but this passage was written in 1859. It is the first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

World events, national events and local events happen in such a strange, cyclical way. The economy, styles and political attitudes all seem to repeat and we get caught in the same pitfalls over and over again.

I was talking with a friend this weekend and he laid out, in light of our current economic/political situation, what we should be doing to prepare for the future. Being a bit older, I remembered the same advice being  offered some 30 years ago. I wonder why we didn’t heed the calls for conservation and sustainability way back then. Instead, we were lured into a false sense of security and went about energy, the economy and …

During these cycles, there is something that doesn’t so much cycle as endure – personal celebration. That is, no matter how bad the economy, political leadership or social regression or repression, we always have some good times mixed in. It harkens back to scenes in the movie The Grapes of Wrath in which, during the Great Depression, a downtrodden family makes its way across the country to California, which to them is the promised land. And as bad as it is for them, they always find a way to laugh and have a little fun, and even attend a hoedown. We always endure.

Now, in this column I can sometimes be critical, and some say I dwell on what’s wrong with Chesterfield. Recently, an area resident pointed out how, when describing what those outside the county saw in Chesterfield, I had pointed to the most embarrassing events over the last 10 years. He said he would to go mano-a-mano with me, allowing me to take the negative side and him the positive. He said he could find more good things about Chesterfield than bad. I concede; he would win hands-down.

From inside Chesterfield, there is plenty to be pleased with; last week I offered 10 outstanding activities that one could discover right within a 10-mile radius of their home. But if no one is critical, how can we improve?

Chesterfield has always done a decent job providing sports opportunities for its youngsters. Parks and rec has always done a phenomenal job with association sports, as evidenced by the successes of high school sports teams (It take some foundation and practice to be successful.).

CultureWorks, a “regional” champion for arts and culture, recently celebrated its first year of operation. It’s my understanding that while the group endeavors to “increase the contribution of arts and culture to the economic vitality of the region,” Chesterfield has once again become the area’s red-headed stepchild. Our only representative to the group is the head of a business organization. That’s fine for the economic/cultural blend, but generally speaking, wouldn’t Chesterfield be better represented by an arts and culture advocate? Is it possible that the person designated to recommend a Chesterfield arts and cultural advocate just turned to the easiest choice? Why? Because there is very little arts and culture represented in Chesterfield.

Three organizations in Chesterfield are listed among 95 that are shown on the CultureWorks website. That’s something like 3.1 percent, when Chesterfield has about 30 percent of the Richmond metro population. Surely there are more arts and cultural groups in our beloved county.

It’s not the fault of CultureWorks, but us. Each year, the Chesterfield Center for the Arts has to go down in the dirt to scrap for recognition and remain on the Capital Improvement Program, and that’s with matching funds. Meanwhile, SportsQuest, the much touted sports venue in Midlothian, has been promised $25 million available right away. The funding for the arts center to be built in Chester was to be available in 2011, but now it’s been pushed back to 2014 or later. In the 2004 bond referendum vote, those voting in favor of the arts center as part of the libraries funding gave a resounding yes; something like 90 percent of you voted for it.

We at the Village News beat the drum of quality of life regularly, and while you might say a good soccer, baseball or football game is quality of life, you’re leaving out a significant portion of folks who could care less or who are fans of the arts.

So I ask, is this the “spring of hope,” or the “winter of despair?” Do we have “everything before us,” or “nothing before us?” That’s for you to decide.