I Was Thinking... It’s Just Temporary

I don’t like change. It probably has a lot to do with my age. Nowadays, everything seems to be changing too fast. This is a common complaint of people who grew up pre-internet, pre-cell phones, and pre- streaming. Phones were attached to a line, people went to the library for research, and to see a movie you went to a theater. But as much as we would like to think this constant change is new, in fact, change is the constant.
When we spent some time at the beach on our winter getaway, change was so evident. Walking the beach was the daily routine. As you walked, you left footprints in the sand, but they lasted only a moment until the next wave washed them away.
If you tried to stand firm against the ocean, the waves began to wash the sand away beneath your feet. They washed over your feet and as they retreated, they seemed to almost pull you back with them. As you watched the sand, it first appeared dark and then would lighten as the water drained away. Further up the shore the sand not regularly touched by the water changed daily as the grains of sand were moved by the wind.
Life is a lot like that.
Over the several weeks we enjoyed the beach and the ocean, both changed regularly. The wave action was different every day. Some days there were barely ripples coming ashore and other days the waves broke with violence and slammed against the beach. This difference left a constantly changing beach.
One day there was a gentle slope from the water up to the dry sand. Several days later, the waves created a shelf six inches high in the sand near where the waves crashed ashore. Another day, the walk along the beach presented a terrain of small hills and washed-out areas.
We had been to this area of Gulf Shores eight years previously and we noticed a lot of changes. The number of high-rise condominiums had increased. Human development had changed the landscape.
While man builds with the idea of permanence, nature may have other ideas. The long fishing pier nearby was built, destroyed and rebuilt several times as hurricanes made the permanent, temporary. Natural forces like hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes can change human and natural environments in a hurry. While wind and water erosion achieve their change slowly. Nothing is really permanent, everything changes.
When we moved into Kasson years ago, our lawn had been a former corn field. Today our house is surrounded by mature trees and shrubs. The four-lane highway had just gotten to this city of just over 3,000. There were three car dealerships, three hardware stores, a bowling alley, and a livestock yard.
We had one school near Erdman’s, one in Mantorville, and a high school on the edge of town. One neighbor that had lived here before our development was completed, referred to us as the squatters. She felt things were changing too fast. Nothing was staying the same. Needless to say, Kasson is not the same city that we moved to 45 years ago. We were new and part of the change.
My grandmother was born in 1885 and died in 1980. She experienced so much change during her lifetime. She saw the beginning of indoor plumbing, running water, electricity, telephones, radio, TV, the automobile, airplanes and a man walking on the moon. She lived through the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, the Korean Conflict, and Viet Nam. Her life experiences included the Gay ‘90s, the Roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights struggles. She outlived all her brothers and sisters, her husband and four of her five children. The only constant was continual change.
Despite what we consider normal at the present time, we know for sure whatever we experience now is just temporary. Nothing will ever stay the same except for knowing things will always change.
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Photo: I was thinking Ron Albright