It was in the low 40’s and sunshine today and most of the snow has now melted .  A perfect day to walk around town.  The streets and buildings are familiar, but different.  I was asked over the weekend if I feel like I’m living here now or on an extended vacation.  And I must say it is the weirdest feeling living here again.

I know the streets and how to get around town, but it is like living in the twilight zone or having some sort of amnesia where everything is familiar, and I can’t figure out why.  The home we are living in belonged to a family member and even with making several changes and all of our personal belongings here, it doesn’t quite feel like home.  It use to be when walking around town or going to any of the stores, people always knew my name, you know sort of like the song Where Everybody Knows Your Name .  Now, no one knows my name, but I sense they know I am “new” in town.  And sometimes when they see me with someone they know and I’m talking to that person like I have known them forever and probably have all my life, a look of confusion and/or curiosity can be seen on their face.

 

The building that was the public library when I was growing up is now used by a community college.  As I was walking by today and thinking about going there back in the day, I recalled the scent that permeated the building.

 

 

 

 

 

The building that was the fire department is now City Hall.  If you look close, you can see the sirens on top of the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But one building that is still the same is the train depot.  Amtrak still comes through twice a day, once going east and once going west.  We actually have on our list of things to do is to hop on Amtrak and go to Chicago for a weekend.

 

 

 

 

This pharmacy was once a fast food restaurant.  Interestingly, the pharmacist that owns this business has a sister that lives in Phoenix that I worked with when I was in the corporate world.  And even more interesting is my brother sold this building to the pharmacist.  Talk about a small world!

 

 

Outside of the coffee shop was a newspaper vending box and the article on the front page caught my attention.  I haven’t had the chance to read it, but I am certainly intrigued!

 

 

 

 

Here is a gallery of all the images from today’s walk around town.  You can click on any of the images to see a larger version.