Color Through a Grey Lens

The city is grey unless you look in certain places. You can find real gems if you look hard enough. Hidden away in hole-in-the-wall restaurants and cafes, you can find the most iconic '20's and '30's joints in the town. Even the library is a gem all its own. The whole of downtown is an iconic 'Origins' town. I am speaking of Abilene, Texas, of course.

It started as a small town in the 1880s and grew to what it is today. People from all over usually find their way unintentionally in the downtown area quite often and realize that it is a gem to behold.

I grew up here, in this small town. Walking downtown was always a marvel and a treat of sorts. It is where I go to feel like I am in the past. People have reported seeing ghosts from the past walking the streets at night where the old buildings are, and down the alleyways then mysteriously disappear.

Living in this old town, I had always equated it to being just a black hole. A place, that if you had crept too close, would indefinitely confine you to your dying days. I have been living in this town for a third-round for about six years now. It did pull me back to the jobs, the living spaces, and the family I have here.

When I was younger, living in Abilene the first round, I was plagued by the mystery and strange occurrences of the town. I had been visited by what I had called The Goblin when I was about 13 or 14 years old. It would roil and rumble my bed at 3 A.M. and threaten to whack me over the head with its exceptionally long staff, glowing red eyes fixating upon me until I awoke and moved to scare it off. Dream? I think not. What else would have shaken only my bed at the wee hours of the night? I even went as far as to explain it away with tremors. The thing is, though, what tremors? There had not been any tectonic movement in the area for decades or centuries. But it very well could have been the fact that our then middle-aged mobile home had been settling. Logical, right? I would hope I can only leave here with my sanity intact.

As I grew older, I came to love the downtown library not just for the books it had but for the simple fact that the old building held my imagination captive for years. I could daydream about meeting a vampire lover there, investigate ghosts amongst the people there, or maybe become a P.I. hunting down a killer. For the first time in a long time, I had seen color through a grey lens.

I could walk towards the fountain in a small hole between two buildings where the lights are strewn about to make a light garden at night. It had the effect of actually lighting me up inside when I visited. My lens slowly began gaining more color as I lived and explored the downtown area of my town. I guess one could say I was no longer colorblind.

As the city got older, more and more architectural décor was added. There will be a new building where an older one had been burned to the ground. The post office will most likely be updated in the next few years, and all other original buildings have plans for updates and refurbishings.

The second-best part of the city, in my opinion, is the art museum, The Grace. Otherwise, walking downtown as a whole, especially during fall when the leaves are changing, is the best and most beautiful time of the year. So much color pops out at you.