TwoGether

Friday 2/17/12.          While I remain amazed at the changes that have taken place in my boyhood home, I must remember it’s been thirty-three years since Linda and I left this place.  Other changes during that time include the Rubik’s Cube, the Cold War ended, Pac-Man, Mount St Helens, CNN, the English Channel Tunnel, the Hale-Bop Comet became visible, Princess Diana, the Internet and cell phones, Hong Kong was returned to China, scientist cloned sheep…So it only stands to reason that this town has had to change too. 

But there is one phenomenon that borders on a wonder of the world…Edwards Drive.  Yesterday while Linda and I walked back from the Farmer’s Market, Edwards Drive and its Centennial Park, which follows the shore of the Caloosahatchee River, lay quiet and serine.  People leisurely walked the paths and admired the fountain and memorials.  Boats were being launched at the free city boat ramp.  

Today it is a hotbed of activity with craft vendors of every description.There is a large stage for the musicians and food concessions filling the boat ramp parking lot. Even the net was removed from the public sand volleyball court.  Like dandelions popping up over night the park is filled with tents and trailers in anticipation of tomorrow’s big event; the Grand Parade of the Edison Festival of Light.The marina barely has slip space left.Two more mega-yachts grace the riverside bulkhead.   

By Tuesday of next week there will be no trace that the park lay under siege for the weekend, just as it was for the Art Fest and the Junior Parade.  

Another of life’s lessons I have almost learned…One of the few constant things in the world is change, and even the rate of change is not constant.