The Evolution Of A Thing...

 On Saturday my wife and I attended an event, a culmination of hours and hours of work and dedication to a craft. We've been attending these events for about a decade--ten years of paying (very little...) to get in, sitting for many hours on uncomfortable seats, taking multiple hours of video and hundreds of photographs of the performers.

In those years, I've noticed many things, one of which is the evolution of the ballroom dance company.

When our children were performers, there were so many dancers. From teenie-tiny dancers to experts, team after team would take the floor. We'd wait patiently for our children to perform and applaud more vigorously when they did. I remember the printed programs listed dance after dance after dance.

They were long, long, events.

Time passed...things change.

In many ways Saturday's program reminded me of those past recitals, the energy from both audience and dancers, the amazing performances, the uncomfortable chairs. But, the line-up had shrunk. It makes sense, in a way. Those in charge are older and--like me--have less energy to do pretty much anything. Also, to continue for this type of business, you need new blood and lots of it. With all the things vying for a child's interest, I think it's more difficult to recruit dancers. So much has changed even in the past decade.

Businesses grow and shrink, they have successes and the opposite. Sitting in the venue watching the children dance, I saw an evolution of a thing. It's been a great thing. I wonder what its future will bring.

It's Now A Park...What Will It Be In The Future?

Because it's summer and because it was the weekend and I didn't need to be at work or the theater, we loaded up the puppy and headed to a local park. It's a small park in our little down and we chose it because, as my wife says, "no one goes there."

Of course, that's not completely true--we went there, after all. But as parks go, there's a good chance it won't be overcrowded. It's called Moon Park and it's on the main road in north Farmington. The boys and the puppy ran around. We spent most of the time there in the shade and we left a little exhausted from the exercise.

While I was there, I noticed a plaque located under the park's identifying sign. I don't know what it is about getting older, but I find myself reading things like plaques and historical markers. Maybe it's because I'm older and feel like I'm a historical marker myself. Whatever the reason, not only did I read the plaque, but took a couple of pictures.

You see, Moon Park is located on a site of the first public building in our little town. The red-brick schoolhouse was built in 1860. I don't remember it and we moved to Farmington in the late 1960s. Of course, back then I probably wouldn't have noticed an old building along the main road if it still existed at the time. I might have noticed a park, though.

What I thought interesting from the marker is the information on the old LDS church that was located across the street. I do remember that building. Many of my friends used to go to that church until a newer one was built in the 1970s. The church was converted into a private residence. A few years ago it was leveled and now new homes sit where the church once was. The marker, however, was written as if the church building still stood. If you're new to Farmington and Moon Park, you'd read the marker, look across the street and ask, "What church?"

That's the way of things. Nothing lasts forever; everything's temporary. One day, maybe soon, maybe after decades or centuries, someone may erect a marker identifying the place where the church once stood. It might even say it was built across the street from Moon Park (which was once where children attended an old red-brick schoolhouse). And if that happens, they may look across the street and ask, "What park?"