“You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a kid.”

What a sick thing to say/text — and way more information than I asked for.

In my buddy Badger’s defense he is from the South, where colloquial idioms tend to be more colorful. I simply texted him, “Badger — Biff — what’s the scene like down at the free music. Crowded?” He texted back, “Not bad — but you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting kid.”

Obviously, my first thought was why would anyone want to swing a dead cat? And even if some psycho was so inclined, what kind of lunkhead would choose to hit a child with the aforementioned deceased kitty? 

My bride and I decided to bike to town and check out the scene. But all the way there, I could not stop thinking about Badger’s text. As soon as we arrived at the event, I began searching for him to ask the origin of his declaration. He was nowhere to be found. I had to assume he had taken his cat and gone home. 

It wasn’t until later in the evening when I was able to Google the origin of Badger’s expression. According to the web, the exact origin of the “swing a dead cat” pronouncement is unclear, but it has been around since sometime in the early 1800s.

But I digress — this effort is not about Badger, cats or idioms. It is about children.

Ellie and I got to the event and there were indeed a bunch of children running amuck. Honestly, you had to be careful where you stepped.

I don’t have a lot of experience with little people. The only two kids I have much recent contact with are Quinn and Roland, both from different unions. It is not uncommon to have each of their parents stop by the compound when they are out walking their child. If the weather is good, we sit outside. If the climate is inclement, and feet and diapers are clean (mine included), we sit inside. It seems each time we see the child it has grown, and is less likely to make eye contact with me.

Both Roland and Quinn’s parents are a fair bit younger than my bride and me.

In contrast, the children sired by most of our longtime friends are now in college or older. And I will say, I credit Facebook for allowing me to watch them grow up without ever having to be in the same room with them.

A purely anecdotal observation is that a much smaller percentage of our mountain friends, back when they were of child-bearing age, chose to reproduce. I blame that on the past uncertainty of the economy, housing, child care and social assistance for families of our community. It was harder to have kids in the olden days, and the truth is that many of the folks of my generation left town in order to breed. 

But again, this column is not about Quinn, Roland or our friends’ kids who I watched growing up on my iPad screen. This column is about the countless kids now living in our community that Badger could have hit by swinging a dead cat.

The fact that the free music event was filled with parents and children tells me that we are doing something right.

I’ve felt for a long time that a concerted effort was needed to make sure our town and county remained a community, not simply a resort. 

A community is a place where workers feel vested and valued. A community is a place where couples or singles can see a path forward if they choose to make this place their home. Now granted, an effort to create housing, child care and social assistance costs money. But it also provides for quality and consistency in the workforce and promotes a year-round economy. 

My first several years in the county, I ventured to East or West Coast resorts in the summers, since making a year-round living in the service industry was not an option. There was no way I would have felt comfortable having a kid even if I had a willing partner and was not using my personality as birth control. It takes two to tango, but only one to slip a tape into the cassette player.

I’m proud to live a community where it might not be easy, but it is possible to raise a family.

So that said, though being childless, my mate and I are happy to have some of tax dollars going to programs that enable young people to sire the next generation of cat-swingers. I’m happy to see the herds of children at our events, recreation and child-care centers — and off of my lawn.

Jeffrey Bergeron’s column “Biff America” publishes Mondays in the Summit Daily News. Bergeron has worked in TV and radio for more than 30 years, and his column can be read in several newspapers and magazines. He is the author of “Mind, Body, Soul.” Bergeron arrived in Breckenridge when there was plenty of parking and no stoplights. Contact him at biffbreck@yahoo.com.