| Bugs
and History Surviving |
| I tried to shake an old, ugly bug off my screen door the
other day. The bug hung on with all his might, and with all
his feet. He wouldn't let go. The more I shook the screen,
the more he buzzed, and the more he buzzed, the more grossed
out I got. I hate those things. |
| Finally, I won, and after he dive-bombed my head a couple
of times, he spun off somewhere. |
| It reminded me of the Citgo gas station in downtown Herndon:
Ugly. Shouldn't have been there that long. But it hung on
for dear life, grossing out visitors and residents alike,
until it was finally pulled down this week. Just like that
old bug on my screen door. |
| Ahh, summer! Bugs and Citgo stations. Isn't life grand? |
| |
| Parking Meters |
| I hear by the not-so-subtle Herndon grapevine that some
people are suggesting, or at least discussing, the possibility
of parking meters in downtown Herndon, especially along Station
and Lynn streets. |
| Well, if getting people to shop in Herndon is a problem,
parking meters sure won't fix the situation. Most people would
simply refuse to drop in a quarter and just move on to other
places to shop. Parking meters fly in the face of good marketing. |
| Problem is, people say, employees of some downtown businesses
park in those spots all day long, and others just park there
too long. There is a time limit, and the best solution is
to simply enforce those laws. |
| However, Herndon Police don't have the guns to check parking
violations on a consistent basis. Anyway, with the violent
criminal activities in Herndon over this summer, including
major drug busts, assaults and burglaries, it's doubtful the
police chief will take cops off the beat to write parking
tickets. At least let's hope not. |
| The best solution is for the downtown businesses to monitor
their own employees and tell them to park someplace else.
The town-owned surface parking lot less than a block away
is a convenient alternative. |
| |
| Learning From History |
| I'm not sure if it's my ignorance of the past or my fear
of the future that keeps me reading history books, accounts
that cover everything from war and victories to people and
society. |
| We are nearing the one-year anniversary of the terrible
and frightening events of Sept. 11, 2001, when the lives of
most of us changed forever. When I reflect upon these last
11 months, it is still hard for me to comprehend those events.
So I went back to my history books, looking for perspectives,
maybe just seeking comfort. |
| I'm now reading "Brave Men," a book written by war correspondent
Ernie Pyle in 1943. The book is a 1945 edition, and a publisher's
note reads, "Paper is rationed. This book is in tremendous
demand. The use of the double columns effects economy in paper
consumption ..." For me the note adds a touch of the war and
a little bit about what Americans faced back then: sacrifice. |
| In the book, Pyle writes about the men and boys who invaded
Sicily in 1943, steaming from North Africa across the Mediterranean
in more than 2,000 American and British ships, the largest
armada in history. The serenity of sea, he said, hid the great
battles to come. |
| Nearing Sicily, Pyle reflects on the war and how it changed
this country. |
| "... I realized vividly how everybody in America had changed,
how every life had suddenly stopped and as suddenly begun
again on a different course," Pyle wrote. "Everything in this
world had stopped except the war and we were all men of a
new profession out in a strange night caring for each other." |
| That paragraph reminds me of how many of us feel after Sept.
11, 2001: The world had suddenly stopped and we were caring
for each other. |
| History does, indeed, repeat itself. It's comforting to
learn, once again, that we, our parents and their parents
before them survived evil of great consequence. Our children
certainly will as well. |
| Isn't history grand? |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
