Good-Bye Daryl Building...

 I didn't see the smoke, but my family did as they returned home from a trip down south. The Daryl Building, built in 1930 (according to the internet...), caught fire and was destroyed.

What a shame.

I'm new to this city...I have no memories of that particular building and very few memories of any of the other buildings that line Main Street. Projecting from my youth, I was sad to see the Farmington A/G grocery store, the Tom Boy Cafe, the old elementary school on the hill, the old library--go the way of all the earth, and I'd be sadder still if the one-time fire station-now-museum or the Rock Hotel Dental building were to no longer be there. I can only imagine how those who have lived in this community for decades feel about the loss.

What's interesting, though, is that fire has a way of cleansing whatever it touches. Just as a forest requires a fire for re-birth, so will the corner of Main Street and First West. The old will be loaded in trucks and hauled off. When it's financial advantageous, someone will take that corner and build anew. It's sad to see something old be replaced, but a new building brings with it new opportunities, new memories for generations to come.

I suppose the same could be said for the forest that has been destroyed, but nature finds a way to make whatever it creates beautiful. Many think buildings are not beautiful, or most buildings, anyway. I beg to differ...the Daryl was pretty cool.