What do you mean, the off-season? We’re knee-deep in October and conventional wisdom would say that activity, at least on the greater cultural-community side, should be winding down to a simmer for winter. People shift into work and shopping season. Christmas isn’t even three months away, so we should be seeing decorated trees in department stores by this weekend. There are no more festivals, save for Chili Cook-Off, which may already be over by the time you read this.

So what do we do now? Sit at home and watch football? That doesn’t sound bad, actually. We’ve got to find time to wrap all the windows in plastic and put away the golf clubs and take the boats out of the river. Why, then, is is that, in the dawn of the “dead zone” of civic life, we found ourselves with more content and stories than ever before for this issue? We always have trouble fitting in all the things that are happening in the Tri-States in two weeks, but with the end of our festival season and our big features on those events, we had to cut or cut down more articles than ever. And, yes, we see that as a good thing. I guess it’s time to add 4 pages? People always ask, “What do you write about when all the stuff is over?” Well, clearly you can now see that the idea of a “dead zone” in living in Dubuque is simply nonexistent.

There is by no means an end to entertainment and activity in our community, simply a shift. True, there is a contingent of people out there we won’t see again until the Budweiser flows under the Town Clock, but for most people, it is a time to transfer free time to smaller, possibly more artistic or educational pastimes. Uh, like bowling, poker and Desperate Housewives ... or is it Dr. McHottie that’s all the rage this season? I don’t know. I don’t go home very much and certainly not in time for prime time T.V.

But, seriously, theater and live music are always alive as ever, when it’s cold and miserable. I can tell you, as a guy in a band, that it’s a lot easier to book a lot of gigs when it’s cold than when it’s hot. More bars book live music in the winter. No one’s going on picnics in December, not here anyway. Though many will continue to wear bermuda shorts with their North Face fleece well into the holidays. I think it’s an Iowa thing. We, of course, stay to a great degree inside. But clearly we do not stay home, and if you do, I guess the purpose of my ramblings here is to implore you to get out at least often enough to pick up your copy of 365ink so you can continue to discover the slew of entertainment opportunities that will greet you through the cold hard slide that is the rest of the Packers’ season. (Bears fans gloat here.) I could never ski. I think a guy my size is simply toying with inertia and fate with such antics. But a crazy amount of you do. Aside from boating, it’s our community’s other “otherlife.”

In my tenure on the Five Flags Civic Center Comission, I’ve also come to quickly understand the feverish passion that this town has for hockey. Not just our great team the Thunderbirds, but even moreso for youth hockey. If we could bottle the passion of youth hockey parents, we’d cure cancer and solve the Middle East crisis. Even the old guys get into the act, with adult league hockey. There simply isn’t enough ice time to go around for everyone who wants practice time. It’s one of the key issues we grapple with on the commission. But I’m getting off on a tangent, and by now you’re used to that with me. You can still get a taste of summer through the winter months. Take the kids to the waterpark and run around in your swimsuit in January. Then go home in your Bermuda shorts in 1 degree weather. The best part about winter for me? It’s hot tub season. But I broke mine. So I guess I’ll have fill the days with other distractions. But like I said (finally getting back to my point), at least there are still lots of distractions to choose from.