3-D Fad

I know I've blogged about this mural before.  I'm reflecting on why this art is just not doing it for me.  I think at first it was just the change that I didn't like, and now there is more to complain about.

I don't keep up with the usual things people complain about, taxes, aches and pains, religion, politics, healthcare, and kids these days, and yet I feel like whining about this mural that I see daily.  I think my criticism of it is as valid as most people's criticism of the list I mentioned before, pretty thin.

I get the latest and greatest is 3-D.  It is fitting that this would be on the side of the movie theater, except that to my eye, NOTHING about it is 3-D.  It doesn't trick my eye like Avatar, or make me want to look at it at length like an Escher.  This is a pretty good photo of the mural, and taken from almost any angle,  I'm not seeing it.

When I was a kid, we drove to a central valley town, that had a similar mural, and it was fantastic.  It was like the first time you blow out trick candles and don't know that they are going to light the second they go out.  When you are a kid it is so cool.

I guess when I pass by this everyday, I'm reminded how I want to be filled with wonder and excitement, like a child.  How did I end up being the person who is complaining on a blog about stuff, instead of pointing out the wonder and awe that our world is filled with.

I'm going to try not to be such a grown-up.

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.

Scout-isms

At breakfast, I asked Scout what she wanted to be when she grew up. She had mentioned that she was going to let her children wear her belt with the rhinestones. I told her she would have to save the belt for 30 years if she was up for it. That got us on the topic of the future. She said she wanted to be a "driving-pick-up-mom". This seems to be the exact thing that I do, or how she perceives me (I do other things as well if you can believe it)!! She then told me she was going to live in the city and pointed in the direct direction of Grass Valley (she is my girl, with a keen sense of direction). I asked her if she meant Grass Valley, and she said yes, the city, cause she hates the woods. Grass Valley has 12,300 human occupants!! Scout said she hates the woods, because of the bears, which seems like a good point. I wonder if a raccoon can scare away a bear?