Jul. 14, 2002 - 20:13 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Navigator Or An Alligator ?

Finding my way around in a place new to me often finds me in the midst of a hazy maze. When young, coming up in Denver as I said once before, orientation was easy because the mountains could be seen from most anywhere in the area. Ergo, besides knowing which way was up, we knew which way was was West.

We spent several years in the Rock Island, Moline, Illinois area where there were no guiding mountains, just bluffs and rivers. The Mississippi and the Rock River. I was never clear in my mind on a cloudy day which direction was which there. I think the Mississippi River runs more or less in an East to West direction rather than a straight North to South route. After a time spent there, a map of the area formed in my head but without compass directions. It was more or less streets and avenues and finding my way from bluff to bluff in those frustrating situations of, "You can't get there from here." Eventually I became used to things in town and could almost find my way around blindfolded, didn't try it though because it is quite dangerous to drive in that condition.

Later we moved to the Tampa, Florida area which also had no mountains. We missed them greatly. Often Heather and I would be looking at a bank of clouds off in the distance and imagine that they looked like the Rocky Mountains, it was a nice, slightly homesick dream - harmless in its own way.

For a time we lived in a little town of Oldsmar which is located at the end of Old Tampa Bay which is the part of the Bay that is the farthest North. We learned how to find our way to various points in the area, such as Clearwater Beach, St. Petersburg and Plant City. Then we moved into Tampa and lived at the North end of Dale Mabry which ended at Hillsborough Avenue then. We lived in the old military barracks of Drew Field for a short time, using a stinky oil stove to cook on, then moved into old military housing on the North side of Columbus Drive where there were civilized amenities. We had to learn to find our way again and begin once again to build a mental map in our heads, which included much water intruding on the land and there were more, "You can't get there from here," places. We found the Courtney Campbell Causeway which ran across the bay from Tampa over towards Clearwater and a bit further south was Gandy Bridge which crossed on into St. Petersburg.

We were there in March of this year (I think it was March) Wall to wall housing now, with freeways and with just a few of the old recognizeable landmarks we knew back then, among them Ybor City. Then too, back then there were vast areas of boonies between housing, some cattle, some orange groves and some just plain Palmetto patches. We decided we didn't want to learn the area over again and gladly rode with the lady we were visiting.

The old saw of, "You can't go home again," is only partially true. You can go home again only the home you once knew and loved just isn't there anymore. Just like other places there were landmarks we recognized, but while we were gone from Denver for ten years the Valley Highway became a reality through town. Yep, riight, "You can't get there from here," deja vu, only in a different location.

Of course changes are the process of living in town. Buildings bulldozed, new ones put up. The downtown area became a mass of one-way streets. Then 16th street became a mall which really messed up the traffic pattern. From what I could see and think, the old line companies where people used to shop downtown had established branches in the outlying malls and the establishments downtown, although open were really mainly headquarters.

Nowadays our efforts to find our way around is to locate nice places to go, as we have found when we decide to go somewhere we have frequented for years, on arrival at X marks the spot - 'tain't there anymore.

Finding our way around through life and the area makes us wonder through our senility or Alzheimer's, do we need a Navigator Or An Alligator ? . . . . . . . . .

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