walking and watching.....

I decided to walk downtown for lunch yesterday. A little humid, but it was overcast and the temperature was mild.

Downtown Nashville is being "revitalized" these days, as are alot of medium-sized cities in the country. Several buildings are being renovated and new ones are popping up out of nowhere. Most of the construction seems to be condominiums or lofts. "Loft" is another word for "700 square feet of living space for just $200k".

The existing buildings are being cleaned up, mostly by new owners. The former owners held them for years and years and can now be found giggling in a bank vault with their profits.

Not long after going outside, I heard what appeared to be someone's voice coming from a loudspeaker. My initial thought was that it had something to do with yesterday's national day of prayer; maybe it was someone in a car praying into a mic. After I had walked a about a half block further, I realized where the voice was coming from. There was a very small woman, maybe 5 feet tall, coming towards me, talking up a storm. I quickly deduced that she wasn't praying as her mouth spewed forth all sorts of obscenities. I don't know who she was mad at, but I was just glad it wasn't me and I kept on walking.

With all the new condos downtown, there are of course new residents who must deal with living downtown. As convenient as it is for them and their work, it's also a little inconvenient for other things when compared with living in a neighborhood with a yard. Like this one guy I saw down near the corner of Church and Third, near Printers Alley, who had evidently gone home to let his dog out. It was one of those miniature dachshunds (a.k.a. demon-possessed canine - right, Jenni?). The guy opened the door to his building and the dog ran out, went up the block about 20 feet, and proceeded to take a whiz in the MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK (the dog, not the guy). The whole time the guy is looking around to see if anyone is watching. I felt like doing a Gomer and yelling, "CITIZENS ARRAYUST! CITIZENS ARRAYUST!"

For those keeping score, that's reason number 4,374,892 NOT to own a dog.....