There was a time during my tenure at The Evening Sun when I drew a lot of strange looks around town. About a year ago I was sitting in a booth at a local diner and somebody walked up and said something like, “Hey, don’t you do that thing for the paper?”

“Ya, probably,” I replied, “Do you mean Punching the Clock?”

“No, that thing where you go out and work with people.” “Yup.”

It’s been nine months since I spent a day at work with someone in an effort to record the methods to their madness. I’ve covered bigger news stories both before and after doing the weekly quasi-gonzo journalism segment, and now, days from vacating my cubicle in the newsroom, it is those jaunts into the Chenango County work day I reflect on most.

My interest in a position as a rural reporter started and continues to stem from the fact that immersing myself in local developments allows me to better understand my home, my own roots.