I sometimes envy people who live in historic places. There is something comforting about places that are untouched by time. I don't live in one of those places. Hermiston was incorporated in 1907. There aren't historic buildings and I haven't seen any historic markers celebrating that anything notable ever happened here.
The schools that my children attended have been torn down and replaced by modern buildings. Even the Hermiston McDonald's has been modernized and looks nothing like the original fast food restaurant. The old drive-in theater has been replaced by a multi-plex theater. The town has grown considerably since we moved here over thirty years ago, but, compared to metropolitan areas, it is still small.
When my children were young, we had only one city park. It is still there and the grandchildren and I went there last summer. The play structures had been replaced with newer, safer equipment, but the trees that shaded us from the summer sun were the same trees that sheltered me when I was a young mother with two active children. Thirty years later I sat on the same bench to watch my grandchildren play. I told the granddaughters, "This is the park where Mommy used to play when she was a little girl." They weren't impressed. They wanted to go to the park with the castle play structure.
When the granddaughters come to stay with me this summer they will once again sleep in "Mommy's bed," their mother's childhood bed. One thing that remains unchanged is that I always sleep well when the people I love are safely tucked in under my roof.
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ReplyDeleteThat's so lovely, Nana. I know how you feel when your loved ones are close by. Thanks to technology, I spend time at least once a week with my sister, chatting for a couple of hours, but what a difference when we are together.
ReplyDeleteThere are historic places and then there are historic places. The village in my township has its downtown on the national historic register. That means there will never be sewers or water for the majority of the residents. That means all water is purchased and their septic systems are their neighbor's front yards. I think they could have achieved their objective in other ways.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I drive around my area, something has changed! We moved here to get away from the hubbub and now I'm in the middle of it, once again.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the playground next door has changed and evolved, it's still the same ground my children and now my grandchildren are playing. Oh... and the trees are bigger! I'm just glad the trees haven't been removed. They were planted when the school was new and my kids were the first students to go there.