Our Town

Every one has a ‘burg’ or a ‘ville’ or a dot on the map they call home. All these townships or communities or cities have histories and living on this plot of land, we share the experience. It covers us like the seasons and though we didn’t live it, it is in the walls and dirt and the trees will tell you if you listen.

My town was formed when the boats stopped because they couldn’t get over the rocks. If you notice rivers are at the bottom of the hills and the explorers climbed up to the highest hill and planted a cross-claimed a stake to the land in the name of an English town on the Thames.

The occupants all had to deal with the foliage and the weather and the people who already inhabited the area and families grew and built shelter and started lives and expanded. Some would say we invaded and conquered this land but it is a place to call home.

As with any other township, food had to be grown and animals bred and infrastructures of roads followed the falling of trees and gullies and paths widened. The river continued to be the power of the city. The other sources of industry were the folks shipped in from Africa to be bought to work the tobacco fields or to become domestic servants.

I didn’t get here until the early 50’s but experienced Jim Crow, integration, floods, ERA (yet not approved by this commonwealth), women’s movement, Watergate, Bliley’s brothers, highways partitioning the city, white flight, downtown decay, diversity in government, my college grow into a conglomerate, another generation coming back to town for the beer, and watching the Capital of the Confederacy white washed.

This little village, that touts itself as ‘RVA’ (good advertising campaign), worries about what to do with an ancient ballpark for a losing third-rate team? Should or should not the confederate generals be removed? What to do with the decaying entertainment dome? Does anyone remember the city hall skyscraper is still being held together with bungee cords?

After the bubble burst, the bubble is filling back up and construction is abundant for those youngsters who want to move back from their grandparent’s banishment to the suburbs.

Like every other city in the world, our town has a history of growing up and those who grow still exist. Others fail and then there are the rural townships and villages that don’t call themselves ‘cities’ but are community centers with a filling station that doubles as a post office, a local grain and seed, a volunteer firehouse, a spot to hang around nursing a warm tall neck and telling tales of how things used to be. And don’t forget the churches. Every town has churches.

Our town provides for the trash to be removed to somewhere I don’t have to smell it. Our town provided to street lighting and potholes filled. Our town provides education centers and medical centers and fire protection and security without a HOA unless there is a hazard to the neighborhood.

After years in our town one discovers the comfort understanding of how to live and get along in this area and what the requirements are to fit in. Moving to a town is like joining a club. The old players will recall the times before while the newbees will make a new history. Some residents will jump in to try and make a difference while most will just survive.

Whether it is Wilmington, New Cumberland, Yorktown, Orange, Littletown, Cleveland, Roanoke, Gum Springs, Clermont-Ferrand, Кропивницький, Niamey, مكة, 天水市, and every township is a gathering place for families’ growth and safety. Buildings are built and torn down and rebuilt, farms are overtaken by shopping malls, houses pepper the land separating the population by race, creed and monetary wealth. As the mass grows systems to transport bodies from one place to another but most prefer the convenience of the automobile. Wires criss-cross the city with a web of power and communication and underground aging leaking pipes carry the most essential liquid while removing our leftovers. Schools will pop up to train the breeding public, as jails will grow with those who can’t obey.

Every township will celebrate local and regional events and celebrities with festivals and games, which is just an excuse to laugh, drink, dance and sing and promote to invite new inhabitants. Those who offered their services will struggle to maintain order and security while providing the increasing demands so many living in one place.

While others have migrated to distant lands and far off places, I placed down my root here in our town. I got my schooling within walking distance, including university. I worked here. I lived through two marriages here. My parents died here. I’ve bought two homes here. I went to church here. I pay my taxes here. I vote here. I know where the best bars are here. I know where not to go at night here. I play by the rules and play well with others here.

Our town is like your town and every other town. Our town is good enough for me, so I think I’ll stay.