Searching for a Heart of Gold

Nevada County is my hometown. I know that there have been 33 years of change, since I got here, but what is good, is that it is slow. Slow changes, as opposed to the changes I see as I drive into Sacramento, or out of Reno. The pace there is faster, there are more cheaply made homes, tilt-up commercial buildings, wide roads and jammed cars. The pace in other places is too fast for its own good, but that is not what this is about. Here, certainly is not there, and yet things do change.

Take for instance the "Heart of the Gold Industry" mural on the Del Oro theater. Some time ago, the owner painted the building (which was in disrepair) covering up the mural that has been there for my lifetime, and then some. Now, after great deliberation, expense, and time, a new fancy mural is going onto the wall.

It is just the thing for angry, sentimental bloggers and snarky letters to the Union editor. There are many reasons folks dislike the newness.

I found myself out late, and alone last week. It was still and cold. On the scaffolding for the new mural, were flood lights and workers (artists?) putting up the mural in the dark cold.

I also found myself feeling sentimental and sad as the men worked. I'm glad I'm not writing angry, foul words in local paper about how I HATE it, because I don't. I simply felt sad that they would be working in the dark. It was like watching a theater production that no one was supposed to see, knowing how terribly angry this new art is making some folks.

I think my sentiment points out something bigger inside me. I'm having trouble changing. I also feel as if I had to paint over some old murals that were a sign of who I am. It is an expensive, deliberate and time consuming process. I feel sad to see the old parts of me needing to be repaired, but glad there is a light shining in me while construction continues at night.