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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
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Many years ago, my mom and I were in Galena checking out the shops. I’m pretty sure I had to be in my early 20’s on this trip, because I was actually enjoying the antiques instead of begging to stay in the car and read a book so I didn’t have to endure the pain of looking at all the old musty stuff. We were in one of the stores located downtown, in a typical early 1900s store front building like most small towns in the Midwest, and wandered to the second floor to look at more musty, old things. The upstairs had obviously been an apartment not that long ago, judging by the kitchen cabinets that were still there and still intact. I looked around, glanced out the front windows at the busy community, and said to my mom-- “I could live here.” Although I was obviously unaware of it at the time, I was apparently foretelling my future.
What the place in Galena lacked, though, that my place here in Marengo has, is the view. Now, I may be biased, but with the exception of the people who live in the country, I think I have one of the best views in Iowa County---Marengo’s city park.
I know I’ve mentioned in the past how much I enjoy it. I have two giant four foot by five foot windows in my living room, which not only bring in the sunlight, but the colors of the trees and the noises of town. People in urban areas pay exorbitant amounts of money to get the relaxing sound of running water into their homes. I get it from our fountain, and I don’t have to pay a thing. This year I hear road construction instead of band concerts, but it hasn’t been too bad. I can deal with it, because the end result will be an even better looking town square which will hopefully bring those who are just passing through town back for more of our small-town charm.
The best part about the park, however, is the people. It’s hard to be in a bad mood when your background noise is children laughing from early morning until sundown. Contrary to some comments I’ve heard (from those opposed to the new playground equipment, mostly), our park gets used. I would say that it has had more activity this year than it has in many years past. Even now, as I look out my windows on a weekday early afternoon, there are kids playing. On Sundays after breakfast or brunch, toddlers play in their tiny skirts and dress pants, while their parents (more often fathers, I guess mom gets a chance to talk with adults for a change) follow them from swing to slide and back again, most likely fulfilling a promise made in one of the restaurants, with the hope of eliciting good behavior. At other times during the week, kids play while parents sit on a bench and read or babysitters sit and stare at nothing and wish they were someplace else. I’ve seen family reunions, birthday parties, and recently even a baby shower.
The park has also become a gathering spot for teens. I don’t think my friends and I would have even considered it when I was in junior high---way too uncool. But there they are, hanging out in the picnic shelters, or the bandstand, or just converging around the fountain. Apparently kids—at least the ones here where they can walk free without the worry of being kidnapped—aren’t spending their summers in front of the TV playing video games after all. Given the option, it appears as though they enjoy having a place to meet their friends and flirt with each other. Some of the new equipment placed in the park by the “Pennies for the Park” committee will be geared for these teens, giving them even more opportunities for hanging out and burning off energy. How can there be anything wrong with that?
In the evenings, while kids still play and teens still gather, the adults and their dogs go for their after-dinner walks, even after the sun goes down and the warm yellow glow of the park lights take over. If you haven’t walked through the park at night, I highly recommend it. The fountain gurgles, the lights glimmer instead of blaze, it’s very relaxing, and is nearly movie set perfect in its ambiance. If filmmakers made a movie there, critics would complain that it was “too stereotyped”.
So I guess my point in all this is, in these days when people feel overworked and stressed out, what’s so wrong with spending a little money on relaxation, beauty, and the laughter of children? Our streets have been flooding for almost 150 years now and in some sort of odd way, it gives us something to brag about and for the most part goes away within 24 hours anyway. A park with new equipment, replacing the mostly 50+ year old stuff we have now, and a beautiful downtown to take pride in with the joy and memories it will bring, will last a lifetime. We should embrace it.
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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Skies: CloudyTemperature: 20F -7CDewpoint: 15F -9CRelative Humidity: 81%Wind: CALM at m - 0kBarometric Pressure: 29.72SUpdated: 08:10:28 AM
