There's no denying that Lawrence is growing up. Every day it moves a little closer toward shedding its "small town" status.
It used to be that this little college town quieted down after graduation. Students went back home, traffic died down, and life was as calm as a warm and windless summer day.
Now the population of Lawrence seems to be growing faster than the city can expand.
The days of a summer drive across town taking only a few minutes are a thing of the past. Every day a new apartment complex pops up beckoning students to stay in town through the June, July and August months.
And while this means business is booming for restaurants and shops across the city, some of the niceties of Small Town, USA, seem to be slipping away from Lawrence.
Still, there are those who remember Lawrence as a small town, and those who organize events to keep that small-town feeling alive in the community.
Sidewalk sales, art in the park, Wednesday night city band concerts, and tonight's theme, "Thursday night movie night," are a few of the many community-oriented events that help knock Lawrence back down to size.
Thursday nights during the summer folks of all ages bring blankets and lawn chairs out to a grass lot near downtown and endure the mosquitoes and the humidity to watch classic movies projected onto the blank wall of a nearby parking garage.
It is a time to meet with friends, take in a good movie (tonight's film featured Lucille Ball), and enjoy a relaxing evening in Lawrence, Kansas.
I do miss the days when I could drive across town in 10 minutes or less during the summer. But as long as there are people who remember the values and benefits of a small town and help to remind Lawrence of its own small-town roots, I think I can live happily ever after.
Some might argue this is not a moment worth celebrating. I lived it up, however, and let myself get carried away in the moment, the excitement, the uniqueness of it all (okay, it did happen twice in a 12 hour period) - I partied like it was 1990*, for all it was worth.
I saw these train engines butting heads today on the tracks in East Lawrence. They spent about five minutes rolling back and forth on the rails, neither seeming ready to give way.
This cicada was busy chirping away (or more technically "clicking") just outside my front door, but paused long enough to grab hold of the twig I offered and pose for a few quick portraits.
This poor guy wasn't having much luck finding his mate today, and I blame his song.
If not, click on the picture above for a hint.
Tonight's concert was the first I had heard in quite a while, and it was well worth the visit. Emily and I - along with several hundred other people - left quite satisfied, having spent a perfect 75°, windless, bugless evening hearing some of our favorite patriotic tunes.
From the new concourses and souvenir shops to the mini-golf course, batting cages and carousel, it was easy to forget that there was a baseball game taking place.
Unfortunately, the game itself was rather forgettable, with the Twins winning in a low-scoring, high-pitch-count game whose monotony we broke by savoring some overpriced hot dogs, exploring the new areas of the ballpark, and splitting an ice-cream helmet sundae.
Generally I'm a fan of Major League Baseball, which is perhaps my favorite professional sport to watch.
And if tonight's game wasn't the most exciting, perhaps we got what we paid for: a kind man handed us two free tickets just outside the gate as we waited in line for the ticket counter.
Though most fireworks are illegal to set off within city limits, the sky still manages to be powdered with various flashes of color throughout the night of the 4th.
