Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The price of convenience

I love city life. I love the richness of the arts. I love the mosaic of such a diverse population. I love buildings growing old with the weight of centuries worth of history. I love the daring nature that captures the wits of city dwellers and leads them to believe their dreams are within grasp.

I also love the small remnants of country still left in the midst of it all. Perhaps that's why I fell in love with London. It possesses all of the adrenaline cities contain but is punctuated in all the right ways with green; green trees, green fields, green beauty. My love for Charlotte's same green areas is just as faithful. That is the same reason why I am so saddened.

The recent effort to complete 485 has taken one of my favorite greeneries: a quaint property decorated by a pond, resident donkey and the occasional flock of geese. A grove of trees protected this serene estate from the forceful ways of civilization and progress, until recently. Now, the groves are gone and the donkey, assumedly, relocated. The tradeoff? Convenience.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Taxi!

My weekday mornings are routine and mundane. The alarm goes off between 5:10-5:15 am (depending on whether or not the snooze button is employed). After I shower, get dressed, (sometimes) make myself presentable, grab coffee and some lunch, I run out the door-in an attempt that doesn't rouse Chad or Koda-no later than 6:00 am, give or take 5 minutes.

Few subscribers to this time zone stir at this hour which makes the 20 minute drive to work rather uneventful aside from the occasional dodging of misdirected furry friends. Lately, however, I have noticed something unusual among early roadway passengers: a taxi, in Charlotte, at 6 am. If I was in the center of a more prominent metropolis I wouldn't think twice about this sun kissed automobile. In suburban Charlotte, it's precisely timed repetitive appearance just feels strange.

I have formulated some reasons for its placement. Let me share:

1.  There is a nocturnal business man with a really long commute. The taxi escorts him to and from the airport. He lives in my neighborhood.

2. Someone participates in routine alcohol consumption and utilizes a designated taxi driver at the same time every early morning. This person is also nocturnal and lives in my neighborhood.

3. It's a business car owned by a socially conscious global citizen who also lives in my neighborhood.

4. It's not a taxi cab at all, but a space ship that is abducting my neighborhood residents one homo sapien at a time.

Are there other predictions out there?

On another note, my blog has been read by someone in Russia. Thank you my Russian friend.