"There
is no question that today we yearn for something undefined. In Fairhope that
yearning is palpable. Perhaps the dreams of the early settlers are affecting us in ways we don’t acknowledge. In some instances they conformed to the outside
world, in some they did not. They had the blessing of a town in which either
choice was acceptable The comfort of this place enabled them to do good works
and influence coming generations simply by being themselves.
"This
is possible for each of us. We still have our parks, laid out a century ago. We
have Fairhope’s legacy of dreams for a better world. We have the land the early
Single Taxers saved for us. And we have our own hopes for better things for
coming generations. The promise of Fairhope’s founders is the promise we share
in our own lives here. We know the potential and the magic of the place itself."
2 comments:
The 'magic' is all but gone now. Few old land marks are left. The hermits cottage is being moved to the 'triangle', now a nautre trail park. The pier is non-friendly to fishing since its last re-do with too high rails and narrowly spaced verticals so close that you cannot get a foot between them to take a rest. There is a sort of feelng, to me, that visitors are to come see then leave and not loll about enjoying the parks. With Trump-onomics induced inflation, only the richest can afford real estate in or near town . Home signage often reads " in the low $400s" for subdivision areas. Arts and Crafts weekend long ago became mostly about money and leastly about
interesting ideas to occupy leisure time. Few true craftsmen show nowadays. Fairhope Hardware was demolished recently. TV news had a 'bit' on its grafitti wall (which was not so very old). Traffic is continuous and real heavy except on Sunday, even in town proper. Riding a bike has become more a danger sport than execise or economic transport.
Reflecting on what was is all you can do. Your reflected essence or aura has been replaced with excessive over indulgence in personal importance over my past 30 years of residence. I think many move to Fairhope after seeing your 'reflection'.
I do not regret leaving Fairhope, and do not enjoy it any more. I have a few friends still there, and they love it mightily but to my mind the "improvements" I saw when I returned in 1988 never came to fruition as I'd hoped. It's a beautiful location but has none of the Progressive juice it once did. The whole world has changed, of course, and people are basically different now, so we can't expect to find the charm we once saw--not anywhere.
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