The Restoration Tour

For those of you who have read the original 90 day restoration tour blog, this will be a chance to go back and revisit the story one more time. For you new readers who are following the current journal version of the story, this is just a “We interrupt this blog to bring you…” breaking news kind of post, so you may want to skip this one as it won’t make any sense to you. With that in mind…

In Springfield, Missouri, where most of the story takes place, there is a town square that is the source of much controversy. I’m sure that at one time it was the center of commerce, and a place where the community gathered, but in recent decades, it has been known as the place where the homeless and “undesireables” hang out. Most people avoid it and find it to be a place they’d rather not visit.

The city has tried a number of things to bring the community back to the square, not the least of which is a summer concert series called “sounds on the square.” Local bands and artist perform on friday nights for no charge, and the idea is that the square will draw visitors who will also patronize the downtown businesses. Why am I telling you all this?

It so happens that my wife and I attended one of the free concerts there this past Friday night and it got me to thinking, and remembering. Last year, there were no sounds on the square because the city spent nearly two million dollars on a renovation project that had the square fenced off and closed for nearly a year. We were living in our second loft apartment which overlooked the square at that time.

We’ve since moved, but we had the opportunity to go back to the square friday night. As we were getting ready, I realized that the last time I was at a sounds on the square concert, I was there by myself. My wife and I were separated and I sat listening to the band and wondering if this was going to be my new life.

We had always talked about living downtown and being able to walk to concerts and event like these, and now, my wife was living downtown alone, and there I was attending a concert that we should have gone to together. It was a tough night, but I hadn’t thought about it for a very long time. It was a small surprise when I realized that going back as a happily married couple would be one more little bonus stop on the restoration tour.