Big City Blues

I used to love going to the city of Denver. So much urban excitement. I walked around the city today and came to the conclusion that the big city isn't like the city of Casper.I understand the difference.  That huge, uninhibited growth has a tendency to kill that which we find sacred...and I know what a revelation. Went to the old train station. Shame what it looks like. It used to be a place that people connected by their comings and goings with the faith that tomorrow was going to be a better day. It was an icon of days gone by. Supported a variety of business that were quaint and caring but now ferment a part of history that speaks to the past. Went to Coors field and a maintenance man let me sneak in and look at the field in darkness. Sports has become such big business to the point that players make more in one day than teachers in Wyoming make in a year. Strolled the areas of Denver that used to be safe, secure places to live, prosper, and find friendship and family togetherness that one could only find in a unique, seemingly antique neighborhood, only to find that gangs, over indulgence and lack of maintenance has created a mecca of desolation that even local law enforcement don't want to venture into. And this is not an eastern city. Like Detroit.Hanging out down town in the trendy bistros and eatery's that perpetrate Lo Do, yet notice that on every corner there are not one, but three and four men and women with signs looking for a hand out to make it through the night.  Though this appears to be a diatribe on the social decay of large cities it's more a stroll down memory lane lamenting on what used to be so special, and apparently taken for granted. Though

I'm sure there are areas of the Denver Metropolitan area that are safe, secure, and growing. I find it disheartening that there are larger areas that have fallen into neglect, and despair. Populated with vast amounts of individuals that have given up on the social experiment.  So I come back to Casper and realize that there is no place like home. Click the slippers and be happy with what one finds here. And don't take it for granted.