Took a little drive around the city today, through areas I have never been and to areas I used to live. So much has changed over the last twenty years, some things in ways that I never would have imagined. There are neighborhoods that have sprung to life, suddenly the roads are resurfaced and the potholes are gone. There are other areas like around Independendece Avenue and The Paseo where the public housing was demolished and homeless camps now pop up around the area.
How ironic, how tragic.
None of us escape the consequences of our decisions, but we never seem to know which decisions are the best at the time. It is only in hindsight that we feel we have any idea what the correct decision should be.
The other strange thing about taking trips down memory lane is realizing how much is forgotten. The memory drive is corrupted and acessing the information alters it futher. For example, I am typing this post at the public library that I used to frequent when I was a kid. It’s seen some updates recently and I recognise very little. There is about an eigth of the stacks and I probably couldn’t find a single book I checked out here if I looked.
The point is even libraries, an institution I still frequent today and have used throughout my life, suddenly become strange and unrecognizable to a version of myself from another time. Would ten year old me recognize forty year old me? Would he be as disappointed as I am when I look in the mirror, knowing he will never become an astronaut or a baseball player or a ninja?
Or will he be filled with optimism knowing that there are countless opportunities for reinvention? The libraries will evolve, and in fact have always evolved with the times, to become the institution that is needed for the time it is needed. I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly intelligent person but would ten year old me be able to understand such concepts? Forty year old me still struggles.
Drive on.
We’ll meet again in a few decades.
Winning at Dadding 