Friday, November 30, 2012

Impermanent Impressions

 
One of the shovel-ready projects of the halcyon days of the first stimulus package was street scaping of downtown, which spread through many but not all parts of our fair city. A misnomer of a term, street scaping refers to replacing sidewalks, not actual streets, although repaving followed.  Some sidewalks, no matter how old and as close to dilapidated as concrete can get,  just could not be replaced, reasons why I do not know. Instead, cement patches cover the gaps like spackling, giving the sidewalk a little more life. It’s not a permanent solution, but even full-on scaping is not forever – what is forever anyway, Jersey City barely survived Sandy, what happens when the sun goes supernova?
Unlike the scaped sidewalks, with fast drying cement and police protection, no one puts an imprint but the patches, personal statements are made, become part of the impermanence. Our love may not last forever, but it will last a while – as long as the sidewalk is another matter.  


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