Frittering the Present, Contemplating the Future

I keep trying to post a remembrance of Tall One's and my trip to Egypt, it was a sensational trip...but I keep getting sidetracked. I have just very effectively wasted an entire afternoon. Ok, the hour nap was necessary, but now it's a quarter to five and I have done nothing since 2:30pm but look up useless information on the BBC America website. Last night, I watched the season finales of both, "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who", so maybe I'm just a little depressed. Fortunately, the SciFi channel has episodes of "Doctor Who" on Friday nights so I will survive, plus, I have the whole seasons of both shows on DVR. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic....

As I sit here, in front of this infernal monitor, I can see out a large window to the world beyond. It's a beautiful spring day. I love spring. So full of promise, so cliche. Seriously, I love the flowering trees and the dandelions. I love the fresh smells; cut grass, blooming trees, warm rain, freshly plowed fields...manure. This is, after all, farm country. We live within spitting distance of a small dairy farm. They grow corn for the cows. The corn fields used to border on our property. Now they border on the housing development that borders on our property. Major construction has come to our little burg.

When we moved here 30 years ago there was one traffic light on Main Street, now there are at least eight, and more in the works. We have three major unfinished housing projects (a forth, butts up against the borough, but is technically in another) and two strip malls. There are two industrial parks, (another that borders us) two Turkey Hills, one Sheetz, three diners, seven bars (six within walking distance), three pizza places, a dozen churches, two grocery stores...you get the idea. We have a new grade school. It's mammoth. When Daughter, Older Son, and PhD were in school, there were two grade schools, one at each end of the Borough. They were single story, horseshoe shaped, and each class had it's own entrance. There was an "all purpose" room where the students ate lunch and had gym and recess on days when it was just too inclement to play outside.

But, all is not lost. We still have a buffer zone of -blank- acres (I can never remember if it's 3/4 of an acre or 3 acres! I'll check with Tall One, who knows, and get back to you.). We have older-than-god trees, and lots of new trees planted. There's plenty of grass for the grandsons to run on and dig up. There's more than enough yard work for a small platoon of illegals, if only they would migrate this far northeast. And, I've mentioned that well within running distance, there is some extremely fine farm land. Picturesque to the nth degree.

And, I'm not opposed to progress. I really don't subscribe to the "not-in-my-backyard" philosophy of amelioration. I was happy that the zoning for the houses behind and to the side of our property was not changed to high density, low income, but if it had been, I wouldn't have protested. I would really like to see a Walmart built at the entrance/exit to/from the highway leading out of/in to town. Sure, I don't want the increased taxes that the school district needs. I don't want to HAVE TO hook up to the sewer (but, I hate the thought of our septic drain field, so I like the idea of the sewer, just not the mandatory part, and the paying for it part), I don't want to HAVE TO put in a sidewalk (but, it would make walking our road that much safer). Yin, Yang. Que sirrah, sirrah.

It seems that my parent's generation, the greatest generation, has moved into the 21st century, kicking and screaming. They really, really believe that life was better "then". The "boomers" are adapting. We remember "then", but we've witnessed progressive change at an exorbitant rate. We're taking the good, and working to minimize the "bad". We're adapting. Our children are just streaming along the highway of change. They don't know any different. And, their children? I can only imagine. I can only hope I'm here to see it all.

I'm still a little bitter about no flying cars, transporter beams, or food replicators. And no, the "Segway" doesn't count for anything.

P.S. We have two acres.