Friday, August 14, 2009

Post #111 aka I am blanking on a cute title

My sister and I were talking today about how we're not really good with change. There's a lot of change in the works around us; new schools, friends moving away etc...I told her how I was heading to Haymarket after work to pickup ingredients for some weekend cooking and I that I never want Haymarket to change. I want it to stay it's slightly grungy self with guys yelling "Two fer a dollah!, two fer a dollah", who get pissed when you manhandle the fruit and how some days you need to push your way through the crowd in the bottle necked, narrow section. It's not farmers market pretty, it's Haymarket and some things shouldn't change.

So after work I got a bit sidetracked by walking a co-worker to South Station. He was about to take a bus and a subway instead of the 10 minute walk from our office since he didn't know that "route" (he kept calling it a "route") and didn't trust my directions (walk down street, turn right, see bus station, walk to it) without consulting Google Maps and already had shut down his PC. (Right now Non-Crafty Meg is shouting "That's why you, meaning everyone, should have an iphone!") So I offered to walk him there since it was such a nice evening.

Since I was now at South Station my walk to Haymarket was now different and I found myself walking along the
Rose Kennedy Greenway. And that's where I suddenly saw it. A carousel. A carousel in downtown Boston. It was strange and wonderful and made stop dead in my tracks with a silly smile on my face. I will admit I do tend to steer away from the Fanueil Hall area when it is high tourist season but how did I miss this for so long? And why was it not there when I was a kid? I could imagine myself looking back fondly "remember when we got to ride the carousel whenever we got dragged to Haymarket and Mom made us carry heavy melons?"

Maybe a little change isn't so bad.

I had almost reached my destination when two women, tourists, asked me where to find, as they put it, "the italian area". I took this to mean
The North End. And as I motioned to them where to go I looked over at where the ugly Expressway had been prior to The Big Dig and I was surprised as I always am that it's not there. Instead you are actually able to see the sky and there are parks and it's pretty. Hmmm....more non-evil change.

So I wish there was a moral here, like I am now embracing change, when life hands you lemons and yada yada yada. But really? Me? I am just a complex gal who likes her city cleaned up, some, but not so much that it loses its charm and becomes a giant mall. I want outdoor cafes but am frightened by the sheer number of Panera's that seem to have sprouted up overnight. I embrace technology and wallow in nostalgia. And I will always, always love a merry-go-round.

Carousel

1 comment:

Megan said...

I don't think everyone is iPhone worthy. And friends moving away = more cities to visit! Fun.

Maybe you should call me change embracing Meg.