Coming Full Circle (almost thirty years)

Last night, I see this movie called “The Men Who Stare at Goats”. It felt like one of those movies that was based on a book. You could feel the book wanting to come out, but it just didnt translate for me. It rambled on, and finally I just gave up and walked out. I just think it’s weird when people try to resurrect a character, ie Jeff Bridges in the Dude role, but stick him in something else, just because Big Lebowski was a hit. (I can just hear the conversations with the bean counters now: “We’ll ride those coattails”.) Uh, sorry, no. And somebody needs to tell George Clooney to just take a vacation and go underground for a while. Overexposure. Too many movies where he simply plays the same character over and over. And the Kevin Spacey character just didn’t cut it, (or maybe it was the hairpiece). And worse than anything, don’t go hurting animals in a movie. We all know it’s just a movie, but still. No stories about harming dogs, and no stories about harming goats.

So this morning, I take this great walk thru downtown. Walking over the bridge into downtown, leaving East Nashville, it hit me that downtown is where I first began here. I moved to Second Avenue in November of 1981, where Mulligans now stands. It’s still got the same bad HomeDepot siding on it, as the guy put on it when I bought the building, 28 years ago. At that time, Second Avenue was a ghost town after 5pm — we used to stand in the middle of Second Avenue and throw frisbee in the afternoons. Rarely a car broke the rhythm. At that time, Jack and Frank May, and Bob Schatz, and Scott Bonner, and Mark Martin, all lived down there — they called us “urban pioneers”. I remember loving the whole city thing at that time, I was only 23 or 24. I used to walk uptown to this weird Shoneys, near The Arcade, for the salad bar, every afternoon. The whole lifestyle was about never getting in your car.

So today, I head out. Incredible morning, with warm sun. Very Santa Monica. Here’s my map walk. First, over the bridge, and cross the street, and check out these great new fountains at the new Court House, then to The Stahlman Building, and admire the renovation of the bank building on Third and Union. Then back to Deaderick, and up Deaderick, and admire the new trees in the center of the road. Then up the steps to War Memorial, thru the fountains, up the steps and thru that Collonade thing, then out the back door to the Tennessee Building, then hang a left and down Seventh to Broadway, to that great church on Seventh and Broad, then hang a left on Broad, and down to the hockey place, then right, and admire The Oldest Building In The World, then over to the Hilton, thru the park, by the Symphony Building, then up Hermitage to shake hands with Rachel Lehman at Crema and say hi, then back over the Korean Veterans bridge, back to Fifth and Main, where I live, but try to avoid the exhaust fan at Otters Chicken; nothing worse than breathing fried chicken exhaust. And then say a prayer that Allium stays in business. As for the future of downtown, my suggestion is that the city beg, borrow, steal however much money it takes, and they go to Steiner Liff Recycling, and also to that giant gasoline tanker company, both which are near the Cumberland River, and they pay them to move. If the city is going to grow, respectfully, those companies need to move elsewhere, and give up that valuable land. Nothing worse than being on I-65, and you look over at the skyline, and you see a stack of crushed 1968 Dodge Darts in a pile.

But all in all, a great walk, and I might even be re-embracing living in East Nashville, after all. (But don’t count on it). I did a lease/purchase here, and don’t really see the purchase thing happening, long term. After moving here, and not having grass underneath my feet, it occurred to me to make a Priority List of Important Stuff when choosing a home:

1. Walk out back door onto grass.

2. Be able to install outdoor shower, in privacy.

3. Be able to have my own grill, and to be able to burn my own meat.

4. Be able to install hot tub for January mornings.

5. This is #5, but it’s really #1: Be able to have a Campfire in your own yard.

In searching on RealTracs, I keep looking for these items when I do Searches: “Campfire”, “Outdoor Shower”, but so far, have not found them. I’m going to invent the Hippie Version of RealTracs.