Of all the traditions in your average American community, none is more poignant than the high school musical — which partly explains the popularity of Glee (and is the only possible explanation for the popularity of Miley Cyrus). Boundless energy and enthusiasm channeled into an art form designed to give full-throated expression to all our dreams and longing.

If you haven't been following our back-and-forth over the last six months or so, this is the ad hoc citizens advisory committee that Dave Schweig, a longtime gun rights advocate in Oak Park, has been calling for ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned our village's handgun ban in June of 2010.

I have a vision for Oak Park: capping the Eisenhower Expressway — but only between East and Oak Park avenues, the narrowest section of the Ike. Then I envision a Tarzan theme park built on top of the cap. Not likely, I suppose.

A few years ago, if I were to guess who wouldn't survive among our four local theater groups — Circle, Village Players, Festival, and Open Door — I would have bet that Open Door would be the one most likely to close its doors.

I never dreamed we'd reach a point where I would stop taking snow for granted. Chalk up another unintended consequence to climate change. Snow, which hadn't settled on us for the better part of a year, has once again become enchanting. Waking to unexpected snow this past weekend waltzed me back to the wonder of childhood.

It's a red flag for journalists covering local elections: When 15 people line up to run for four seats on the local school board, something's up. So what's up with District 200 (aka OPRF High School)?

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and the "pro-life" movement is, no doubt, assessing the successes and failures of their Ahab-like quest to kill the Great White Whale of legalized abortion.

Had breakfast with a gun-rights advocate last Thursday morning at Panera. Dave Schweig, 76, is a longtime resident of Oak Park (two stints). He was involved in the original handgun ban back-and-forth (against it, of course) in the early 1980s. So his history with this issue is long.

Growing up Catholic in Oak Park, most of the football fans I knew rooted for Notre Dame. Nowadays, it seems, there are as many ND haters as there are fans. So a lot of football fans are crushed and just as many are elated in the wake of Monday's national championship game against Alabama.

What kind of God allows a slaughter of innocents like the one recently in Newtown, Conn.? That's one of the frequently asked questions in the wake of yet another shocking outbreak of evil in the world. And it's a question that causes more crises of faith than any other.