Sometimes I wonder why

I’m up a bit late for me.  But a song came into my head (“What’ll I Do?”  Irving Berlin  1924), and it made me wonder.  What would people do if we lost the places we remember and didn’t try to keep.  I know preservation has been a pretty big thing since the 70’s, but does anybody really try to do something?  Sure they will if it’s connected to someone famous.  But what about the commonplace places?  The places we take for granted, you don’t notice until they’re gone.  They had a place and purpose.  Folks walked through, ate, greeted, said good-by, created new lives and lost others.  But to others they’re just crap.  Should be torn down, discarded, tossed off like an old tissue.  Have you ever thought about those who have been there?  Celebrated a birthday, asked her to marry you, was told he was killed in the war or sent him off to the war to fight?  Brought him home when he came back?  And those that go off in search of the future.  It’s all high hopes and it usually is.  But in that place we were there to welcome them back when they needed it.  And always pie as a prize or consolation.  Here, I offer a few of those places.  With all the dirt and grime, wear and tear that they’ve lived through.  I got the best compliment about the diner.  “I like it! It smells bad.”  That’s because it’s had a life.  Imagined, yes, but a life.  Images should say that.  You don’t have to have action, you just have to look closely.