DragonflyTotem: Change Happens...change happened. I knew that this day would come but didn't know when or how quickly it would happen. On March 1st the "New Number One Chinese" restaurant closed. I remember the day they opened as I walked through their door and they were still laying floor tile but took a break to make something for me. They were a victim of "progress" in that once the purchase by Lowes caused one lease after another here to expire and not be renewed, it was only a matter of time before the lack of traffic to this huge plaza meant no business for this family owned restaurant. And sometime during the past few weeks the last remaining tenant quietly shut down, no one remaining to witness them turning off the lights. Yesterday I thought I'd noticed fencing being put up around the big building, and stopped by on my way to work this morning to confirm it. It would have only been a question of when they start removing parking signs and lights, and then they'd close off all access to the plaza. I thought it would be better to remove the cache now rather than to have someone trying to get to the site only to find it and the sign gone. So this morning I removed the cache container from its hidey place, then stood quietly in the morning light looking out over the empty plaza. I remember the Giant Store, followed by Farmer Jack, followed by Farm Fresh, followed by emptiness. I remember getting haircuts in the plaza for about 18 years. There was a place to get sub sandwiches. A Japanese restaurant. An Italian restaurant. A handful of "specialty" shops that somehow survived over the years, or were quietly replaced by another small shop trying to eke out a living. We'll see what this place becomes...rumors are that it will and will not be a Lowes. Who knows. But looking around this morning the one thing that I do know is that Change Happens...Things Happen.
Thanks to all those who cached here!