The sky

I was driving home from work today and noticed something I had not noticed in a very long time. Maybe because I spend a good portion of my days dangling from telephone poles, or maybe because I live around a bunch of trash, but for the first time in ages I actually noticed the sky. The sky was a deep blue and the clouds were perfect. To my left I looked and saw an ocean of grass that stretched all the way to the rolling hills that obscured the rest of the view. Off to my right was a multitude of reds, yellows, oranges, and greens of the fall tree canopies.

It looked something like this picture which was taken in Carrol County Ohio. The trees stretched to the horizon. I saw small farmhouses littering the side of the highways. It feels like it has been years since I really just took in a scene like this. I am not sure why I noticed it today, I have taken this way home a hundred times yet I never looked at the landscape like I did today.

As I started to pull into town I noticed that this small town had a certain Norman Rockwell-esq style to it. An Americana of time that has long since past. Sure there is a section of town with your walmarts and best buy, but this part of town was all mom and pop storefronts and old victorian style houses. Maybe this city isn't that bad after all. I mean how many places can you find an independently owned pharmacy in a day and age when there is a walgreens on every corner.

This is Main St. in Lancaster. If you took away the cars you would assume you had been transported to some street back in the 50s. A time in this country when everything seemed possible. A time before liberals and drug use took a hold in this country and tore apart its foundation.

Here is a picture of Lancaster from Mount Pleasant I believe. From here in the distance it looks like a beautiful small town. I am not sure where my neighborhood is in relation to this picture but I cannot pick it out from looking at a zoomed in version of the picture.

As I drove down the streets of this small town I saw things I had not appreciated before. Ironic it is, how something so simple as a different outlook can alter your perception of what is around you. Maybe you get so used to being unhappy that it just surprises you when you are happy, if even for a moment.

Then I pull onto my street. I see all the litter and trash that people just carelessly drop. I see the unsupervised kids running around. I look across the street and see people coming out of the drug dealers house. To my right sight the toothlessette and toothless mullet enjoy cigarettes and Old Milwaukee's Best beer. I quickly snap back to the reality of things. It was nice though for a few minutes to remember what it was like to see something beautiful.