twenty-three

We’re down in Edmonds for a couple of nights right now, on a small anniversary vacation. Stacy is at a friend’s right now, so I took a short walk downtown Edmonds, to run an errand, and do a little reading. I am the kind of person who always loves coming home, just to see what has changed and to remember a bit of what I’ve been away from.

Going down to Edmonds is always a bit of an experience for me. I end up looking at a place in the park and remembering hanging out with friends there or looking into one of the shops where so-and-so used to work, wondering if I’ll catch a glimpse of them. I’m kind of a reminisce-r.

Something I noticed today is all the newness around the downtown. Edmonds is continually growing, with new condos, new shops, and new restaurants spreading out from the downtown center. Unfortunate is it is, there’s even a Starbucks in the heart of downtown now. (Local Bellinghamers, now I really feel the your pain from the new Starbucks on Holly. They’ve done it to my town too.) I opted for a smaller, yet new, coffee shop 1/2 a block away, where I spent some time reading.

Upon finishing my iced latte, I decided to take a quick walking tour of the newer developed parts of town. I prefer to give myself space to think when I do this kind of touring, so I added a little soundtrack music on my iPod and began to wander. I found a couple new galleries, saw the new wine and cheese bar I’ve been dying to go into and even noticed a couple of the old churches sporting new logos, suggesting a some revamping or new tenants. It’s fascinating to see the newness take over the familiar landscape. Some of it’s great, as I see the community changing in inevitable and positive ways. Some of it’s bad, as I said with Starbucks, because it is taking away from the character of the city center, and replacing it with corporate logos.

I don’t know how to quiet summarize my thoughts, but I will say that I find these little excursions are often wonderful times of reflection for me. I’m able to look at my home town community from a detached perspective, now that I live in Bellingham. I can appreciate the character of what was once very boring and comfortable about that place. I think God uses this to help me see where I’ve come, how I’ve changed. As I see the changes taking place at home, I look from a perspective of someone who has changed enough to be able to actually notice.

Needless to say, I have had a pleasant, Edmonds kind of day.

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