“Downtown”

“Every day I walk this staid circuit around my little town, recognizing shop owners, street signs, and even passing dogs. But today, unbeknownst to me, like the besmudged Cinderella morphed into the belle of the ball, it has been utterly transformed. There is a festival! Children climb rock walls; pretty, young girls in leotards perform Hula-Hoop tricks, intertwined couples sip wine, carts serve up shaved ice and porcini pizzas, and the sounds of rock and roll fill the air. I usually have the sidewalk pretty much to myself; now it is crowded with the happy and loud, with high-tech baby strollers, and japing friends. Cars normally pack the street; now it is chock-a-block with revelers. The band has dressed up in bright polka-dot suits; odd couples: young lovers, old married folks, and a mother and daughter, sway their arms and bounce their legs in response to the rhythms of the music. I watch the teenagers in their panting ecstasies and the gyrating dancers, and the kissing lovers and the eager scarf salesman and the lady from the census bureau. I observe and I rejoice in the delight apparent in the faces all around me.”