Pride of Place

We live in a time characterized by many rapidly evolving changes in the mechanics of our daily lives. I think if I was Pavlov's dog I might just put up my paws. I feel immersed in a hydrogarden of technology. This not only affects the way we make a phone call (term already obsolete) but I sense the concept of "neighbor" to also be in flux. Many people engage in business and games on the internet with players all over the world in our new "global economy". This can create havoc with such old- fashioned concepts like "neighborhood". All this is happening simultaneously with the "Buy Local" movement.
"Everybody has a hungry heart....."
....But this year, living here in a small town, I have experienced a surprising shift and I wonder if you have too. My town is sandwiched in a valley with several close neighboring towns and with the added dynamic of Five Colleges, bringing an additional transient flow of people. We have a main thoroughfare that links several of the towns. Our town is famous for rich farmland; in fact, The World Preservation Fund recently listed it along with Machu Picchu due to the continued use of historical farming practices. Many years ago, the town "elders" decided to sacrifice property along this corridor to business development, capturing the resulting tax revenue to help ease farming and agricultural costs. Over the last years we- like all developed communities in the nation-have endured the onslaught of big box developments.
The Shift: this past year we celebrated our town's 350th Anniversary, and I believe this event has been transformational. The sharing of town history through many orchestrated events has gone beyond educational; it has been a bonding experience for both newcomers and the town families with roots going back easily twenty generations. We have celebrated the lives and industry of the people who settled and built a thriving farming community along the Connecticut River through a rich panorama of events. It has been a pleasure to witness the oral and photographic histories of the people and the architecture, all organized and displayed alongside invitations into the homes, gardens, studios and businesses of citizens old and new that share a love of the land beneath them. One of the organized events that I participated in was a Garden Tour with Artist Studios and an Art Exhibit. In the midst of the global tidal wave of uniformity- The Mall Clone Invasion - and a changing demographic of citizens, we enjoyed the reformation of a sense of community that was invigorating and heartwarming. This transformative experience is of course all due to the tireless and devoted energies of individuals who came together to showcase and celebrate the rich aspects of life here in our town by the river. We often struggle over visions of direction, but that struggle has not weakened the love we have for the riches we continue to experience together. It has been a wonderful ritual commemorating all the life supported by this parcel of land we call home and the river that continues to water the growth of talent and creativity inspired by daily life along it's banks.
the painting is my "Evening Star Over Hadley" an oil on panel