There once was a durhable
City. It was known for being verdant.
Its inhabitants were diverse.
This history of this City was built on its working class and all the farms and
farmers in the county around it. But, it was complicated.
Some outside and even inside thought the City was disreputable. What many City dwellers
saw as eclectic, others said was dirty.
The forces that thought the City was too messy aligned with developers and departments. They said, “We need
to clean-up this community.”
They didn’t look around and see quirky. Their first thoughts were not, “How colorful!” They weren't so sure about the way things were mixed.
They looked around and saw tasty
money. They had a passion for it. It
was real.
And the people of the City looked at each other and saw all
they had done could be undone. They
asked themselves, “Who controls our home?”
It was visionary.
They came alive when
they asked themselves, “Who runs these departments, this City?” Suddenly they
realized, politics was DIY.
They had built their City out of Love, even when times were tough. Sure, it was idiosyncratic. But, it was authentic.
Yes, it could work to be even more tolerant. There was a certain mindfulness
in the air. A funky balance reigned,
but change was coming either way.
All the people needed to feel safe and be able to send their children to good schools. It was a collaborative effort of City and
citizens. They had to get creative.
They wanted their City to be bicyclicious. They wanted their City to be walkable. They wanted to keep filling the bellies of all the foodies.
Seaworthy was a
metaphor. They believed maintaining diversity
brought the swift currents of new people and new ideas. Their City was a vibrant river, churning with the rushing
rapids of imaginations invigorated.
They made it local,
first with great libraries and cool parks. It was an inclusive place. Proud to be queer.
It was doggy friendly.
It loved its trees. This was the
City’s soul the people had battled for, yeasty,
dank, fertile, and fecund.
It wasn’t just progressive.
The City loved its breweries and
beer. It was a roaring, old place that believed in fun.
It was inevitable things were going to keep evolving. Their City was thriving, and now they knew the key was
to be good custodians, actively involved.
Sure the City was still a little weird. But its people thought it was, “Bull-tastic!”
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STITCH Durham words in italics.
