Summer, summer, where have you gone? It seems like just yesterday we were crying for warm weather and a right-handed bat in the middle of the Phillies lineup. Fast forward a few months and we have an earthquake, a hurricane, and gangly, awkward, perfect 5-hole hitter. Not a bad summer.
Like with any season, summer goes too fast because we look too far into the future. In the summer, we can't wait for Halloween and hoodie weather. In the fall, we can't wait for Delilah's Christmas hits every night on B101. In the winter, I can barely contain myself while thinking about Clearwater and our guys. I think if we stop looking ahead and try to focus on what's in front of us, these summers will feel a lot slower, like we are actually there in the moment and not watching it pass us by. I guess that could be said for life as well.
I went with Gina <3 to Bonefish Grill last night before seeing an okay movie, My Idiot Brother (I thought I could relate). Bonefish Grill was very, very good. The service was great and the fish was as fresh as Joey Cone's wardrobe. It got me thinking, however, about how most cities and towns lack a sense of personality anymore. I could go home after work today and go food shopping at Wal-Mart, have dinner at Bonefish Grill, and go to the gym at LA Fitness. I could repeat the same cycle in a hundreds of cities across the States. I'm sure at one point Deptford wasn't just Best Buys and Outback Steakhouse, but rather it was full of local restaurants and ma and pa department stores that felt like Deptford.
I'm happy that in Philadelphia we get a little more local flavor with independent restaurants and shops, but suburbia is becoming a black hole that sucks in large corporations and housing developers (well.. errrr) and ejects home-grown, longstanding small businesses from their roots. But nah, let's protect those big corps that are ruining what made America a great place, free enterprise. Big Business is not America. Big business is a means for a guy in a suit making 500,000 a year to hide beneath an umbrella of underlings and a cavalcade of lawyers. There is no accountability, no face to the problem. It's just the company. If I have an issue with a Wal-Mart, my problem will very likely be squashed or tossed into some suggestion box. If I have an issue with a local hardware store, the people that own the place will help me; because they care and they understand that my suggestion could make them better. Wal-mart doesn't care. Small businesses care. Small businesses have heart. Small business is the guy in rags on the street corner blowing a smooth rendition of "What A Beautiful World" from his trumet as passerbys flick nickels into his instrument case. Wal-Mart is 80's hair metal bands. Look at me! Look at me!
This has nothing to do with summer, I know. It's pathetic, I just want America back.
Or is this what America is and always was?
Well stated and so true. We need to enjoy the present..every day is indeed a gift. I love Philly, too. It is so unique and has such great character. Eating there is always a great experience!
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