Nov
Don’t Know What You’ve Got
Because of the economy the last few years a lot of familiar places in my neck of the woods have closed their doors. Fuddrucker’s, Souper Salad, JoAnn’s, Mervyn’s, Chompie’s, and Build-a-Bear to name a few. Sure, you can still get to one of these but you’re going to have to drive a lot further.
I was hit harder by the loss of Border’s, which permanently went out of business. It’s so sad driving by their empty building where I shopped for as long as I can remember. It was my go-to store for gift buying and a great place to grab a coffee and browse the bestsellers.
The worst was the closing of my local county library. Sure, I have a city library within walking distance but it’s not the same. The county library was huge and those librarians knew how to recommend a good read, better than Amazon or anyone else. Because of those knowledgeable ladies’ suggestions I read The Dogs of Babel and discovered authors Alice Hoffman and Mark Haddon. The quality of my leisure reading has waned since they shut their doors.
Yesterday I found my losses now extend to cyberspace too. One of my favorite blogs is gone, wiped from existence – as in domain name not renewed. It was a mother of four’s blog about her journey from suburbia to New York. Every week she posted vibrant pictures of life in Manhattan – its delicious produce stands, exotic cultural events, and fabulous shopping from flea markets to designer labels. She even posted pics of her 31st floor apartment that she transformed into a whimsical, cozy space for her family… with only 1,200 square feet to work with.
Okay, universe… I understand I need to appreciate what I have while it’s there. Now can you please stop reminding me? Thanks.
Not only is it sad that those goods and services are no longer conveniently located, the empty buildings and storefronts make the neighborhood look rundown and abandoned. And, it’s always sad when an old friend (blog) disappears.
I totally agree that empty real estate brings down a neighborhood. It’s one of the many reasons I’m really looking forward to this economy turning around.
It’s so funny you mention this. I was at a Living Proof conference and Beth Moore was talking about how we rarely “fix our gaze” anymore–that we live so distracted we. miss. things. Until they are gone and then, we know what we’ve lost.
My challenge this week has been to fix my gaze. What is worthy of my attention? What isn’t? And for lunch I went to my fave locally owned shop because I want them to stay open!
Reagan, so glad you’re patronizing your local shops to keep them open!
What a good reminder… “fix our gaze.” Thanks for sharing.
Our Waldenbooks–which had been bought out by Borders a few years back–closed, too. Talk about a bummer. I love my Kindle, but I love to just go in a book store and wander around, browse, and breathe in the smell of books! Now there isn’t a book store in the mall at all. I love my technology, but sometimes I wonder we are giving up in exchange.
@Janice, Yep, Waldenbooks closed down too. We haven’t had a bookstore in our mall for a long time but it was okay until recently since Borders was across the street. And I couldn’t agree more about technology… I love it but I miss the personal tough to things, ya know?