Acting My Age

 

"When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go,

downtown."    - Petula Clark

 

The suggestion was put forth to write my blog tonight about the phrase acting your age.  Fair enough, but then the real question becomes what is my age?  Which age do I write about?  After all, according to relativity theory all times past, present, and future are equally valid.

 

So I decided to settle on somewhere around 14 years old.  At the time we were living in the River Hills Apartments in Des Moines.  The buildings are on a ridge just east of the river, over looking downtown.  The view, especially at night, was nothing short of stunning!

 

It was natural that downtown would become my stomping grounds.  The alleys were as familiar to me as most people find their back yard.  In many ways, the alleys of downtown were my backyard.

 

 

Many of the core buildings downtown haven't changed.  They're like old friends to me.  They may be a little worse for wear from the years, but are still familiar faces.  A little rough around the edges, but then so am I.  The old brick buildings are almost like going home again.  Almost.

 

 

Downtown has changed, but most of the real icons are still there.  Sights that long time residents would recognize instantly.  The Travelers umbrella.  The Hotel Randolph.  The Polk County Courthouse.  Old friends, still standing guard over the city.

 

 

Even the parking garages have been a destination, a haven in a storm.  They were a quick refuge from cold winter winds, and the views from the wide flat roof tops were something even a 14 year old could appreciate.

 

During one blizzard some friends and I were downtown walking around, even though the streets were closed with 3 to 4 foot drifts.  On the top floor of one parking garage we happened across a woman whose car was stuck in the snow.  We managed to get her unstuck from the drifts on the roof only to rediscover her 15 minutes later stuck in a drift in the exit.  From there she was on her own.

 

 

The rivers haven't changed much, at least not yet.  They rise and fall, and the retaining walls show their age more and more every year.  Folks still fish from the bridges, and along the river side when the river levels are low enough. 

 

At least in the last couple of years parts of the river walk have been revitalized, a few blocks in the heart of downtown.

 

Some of the old friends are long gone, as is the way with all things.  There was the army surplus store on 3rd.  The Civic Center has replaced all the buildings on that block. 

 

The JC Penney store is gone.  The building still stands, and every 2 or 3 years it changes hands as one group or another tries to find a purpose for it.  What I'll always remember is the cafeteria's cheesecake and hot apple cider.  And from time to time I'd buy a new book and a 1/2 pound of chocolate covered raisins. 

 

Then there was the book store on 6th, next to Babe's Restaurant.  The back part of the store had a novelty section, joy buzzers and plastic dog poop kind of novelties.  In the front of the store was the adult magazine section.  And you had to pass the racks of magazines to get to the onion flavored gum.

 

Ah, 14 years old was good age!

 

Not all the changes to downtown have been terrible.  The first rate theater at the Civic Center, where I've seen musicals like Wicked and Avenue Q, and musicians like Arlo Guthrie.  The ice skating plaza, the Asian Gardens, the Pappajon Sculpture Garden.  And of course the Skywalk.

 

 

Arguably the Skywalk has had the biggest impact on downtown.  A series of corridors and bridges connects most of the major downtown buildings and parking garages at about the 2nd floor level.  The Skywalk not only allows you to get from your car to your office without going out into the weather, but also offers many shops and restaurants.

 

The Skywalk has created a corridor culture in downtown Des Moines.  People come downtown, park, go to work, go to lunch, shop, have drinks after work, and finally head for home all without seeing sun or sky.  You can go downtown at 11 am on a Wednesday morning, and it seems so deserted on the sidewalks you'd think it was a Sunday.

 

Nothing stays the same, not totally.  That's why you can never go home again.  But if you're willing to accept the new while continuing to embrace the old you never need to go into the past to go home. 

 

After all, home is where the heart is.