This post is brought to by the number 14,291...
That's what the 1960 population of our fair city was...

Maybe our city isn't so "fair" anymore? Perhaps if I was "up and coming" at this point in time, I'd probably accept that the way things are now is just normal. Maybe that's why a lot of people seem to just immerse themselves in the pandemonium and disorganized pace of today's ever-frantic society without complaint, and maybe that's why I have an adverse reaction to the way things are today. Maybe I just come from a different time. It's a theory, anyway.

It was great fun trying to negotiate downtown today. Sherman Avenue is blocked off down near where the Tri-athalon finish line will be, somewhere near 1st street. So I tried going down Lakeside Avenue, one block north, and that's blocked off too. I found myself going into a parking lot and going the wrong way down a one-way alley because there was no other way I could've gotten out of that tangle. It was worth it, though. Today was a picture-perfect day, and down along the dike road, the scenery was impeccable. I went out to that grassy "pier"-type piece o'land near where all of the sailboats are parked there on the beach. And I was sitting there with my little transistor radio, listening to the M's game, and enjoying the scenery. I didn't have to be at an outside bar, or some big event, or roaring down the street; I was having a good time just "being".

I can't even bear to try and go to City Park right now. I feel like it's been "taken away". Of course, if I was a Triathlete, I would love the concept almost the entire Park being taken up with bike racks, tents, and whatever else gets put there every year around Triathalon time. To me, it's sort-of like a sports-oriented hostile takeover, but I'll get over it. If nothing else, I've found some other great places to hang out, so not all is lost. I've been a little on the upset side, because of the sudden acceleration of things happening around here with the advent of summer. I just can't keep up. So I found myself going into the new location of Wiggett's Antiques, and that was just what the doctor ordered. I saw so many little trinkets, toy cars, old pictures, clocks, and other things I've seen in past times, that I felt myself just kinda "calming down" a bit. A case of "me" getting back to "me". And I bought a couple of hydroplane buttons and a Hank Williams '78' record.



Here is a fairly recent shot of our fair (or not) city from way up high in the sky. And I'd say there's quite a bit more than "14,291" people here nowadays. (I remember seeing that number on the sign at the northern city limits, way back when I was a kid.) As a matter of fact, an article in today's paper said that Coeur d'Alene has crossed the 40,000 mark in population. That doesn't take into account all of those who reside in prefabricated cookie-cutter houses in fast-appearing fenced rezzidential communities out there on the Prairie above the Aquifer.
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One reason I like this time of year...right now it's about 11PM, my front door is open, and the fresh night air feels really good. The temperature is "just right". If I could live where it was 65 degrees all year round, I'd truly be a happy camper. So as you can see, I am really trying to be positive in SPITE of myself...