Changing Times
As we’re approaching our transition time when we return to northern Florida from Colorado, I got to wondering about change. Many of us fear change, forgetting it heralds both good and bad. Talking with a fifty year veteran of the Methodist Church we attend in Colorado, I asked her about the impact of the Methodist system that requires pastors to move to other churches with relative frequency.
“Well,” she replied, “we’re usually very apprehensive – and then, in retrospect, realize that the challenge is generally good for us.” (The current pastor, a Salt Spray and Aspens subscriber, – is definitely an exception – she can never leave.)
As the congregation has reservations about change so too the town. Currently, new development is changing the character of the community. Unless rising mortgage rates drive prices down, it’s too expensive for many who serve the town to live in it. Given that Chris and I are part of this shift, we need to accept some responsibility. And yet, having learned about the town’s history, it seems as if t’was ever thus!
Our town burst onto the scene in1880 to serve the gold and silver rush, and as a result of the expansion of the Denver and Rio Grande railway. Construction was frenetic, outsiders poured in. The town serviced the mining industry by building huge smelters to extract precious metals from the base rock, and by providing maintenance services for locomotives. Two fires destroyed many of the new buildings, but ensured their replacements were brick-built and hence survive to this day. Change inexorably rolled on as the mines were depleted and the railways closed. In the 1960s, the town focused on leisure and tourism. Folk flocked from far afield to languish in the hot springs, fish in the lakes and rivers, and hike the picturesque trails. Mountain biking, skiing, kayaking and other outdoor pursuits followed, along with the emergence of an arts community. Even prior to the pandemic, and certainly during the worst of it, some residents embraced working from home making this small, historic yet somewhat isolated town ever more attractive.
Britain underwent a seismic change recently with the death of a monarch. This change was enough to ignite my inner Brit and propel me (and long-suffering Chris,) out of bed before 4:00am to witness the funeral and committal ceremonies. An historic moment hailing back to Athelstan (895-939,) who defeated the remaining Vikings and united the English. Queen Elizabeth ll did not always attract the affection and respect of her later years, and the whole question of the relevance of a constitutional monarchy has been raised before. Perhaps it’s by dint of living a very long life, never giving up and, only a little belatedly, adapting to change, that Brits and other supporters are able to hail, “God Save the King!”
How will Charles lll fare?
For his sake, let’s hope he embraces “Changing Times.”
News Flash!
End Notes
Reading
Listening
Look Up
Harlem Gospel Travelers
The Skye Boat Song
Highland Saga
Traditional Scottish
Viewing
Encanto (A movie about change)
Poetry
Oh! I wish I’d looked after me teeth. Pam Ayres (with apologies for the sound quality)
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