Look up once in a while.

I realized this afternoon that I’m guilty of something I’ve accused others of doing: failing to see the progress that’s been made in downtown Hagerstown. Not seeing the forest for the trees, so to speak. It occurred to me at lunchtime when I was sitting in our University Plaza. The lawns were lush, the landscaping was lovely, a fountain was running, a great local blues band was giving a free concert, and all sorts of downtown workers were lounging about with all sorts of fabulous carryout lunches. Tex-Mex, pizza, curry chicken wraps, salads. Someone even had some carryout Persian kabobs, for God’s sake. Persian food in downtown Hagerstown! People were holding conversations and relaxing and laughing. I saw a couple people reading books. It felt more like an idyllic college campus than the dumpy dreary downtown I’ve gotten all-too-used-to. When I walked back to the gallery to resume work, I noticed the new banners on the light poles and felt a definite swell of pride in my adopted hometown. Really, I have to remember to look up more often, and stop looking down. Because when you look up, you have to admit that things are looking a lot brighter around here.

Note: free lunchtime concerts every Thursday, and free professional cultural-and-literacy enhancement children’s storytelling every Wednesday at University Plaza. If that’s not a case of the City working for the people, I don’t know what is.