Afternoon in Macon

The air was dry and the sky was blue. Blue like turquoise. Late in the day, I was sitting in the Explorer waiting for the borrowers on my closing. I had been back and forth with them trying to get them to call me back. The wife said she had left messages, but I didn't have any messages on my phone. I was standing in the middle of Macon on a Sunday afternoon; no one around to speak of. I was looking around the buildings on the block. There seemed to be a lot of cars parked across the street. Doctor's offices were around and there was a television station on the corner. A satellite dish, with a channel logo peeling off the center sat behind the building. For the life of me it didn't look like there was anything going on there.

It was pretty, but I was suffering from the beginning of a migraine. I climbed back into the Explorer and closed my eyes. I was a little afraid of the possibility of someone coming up on me while I sat in the car, staring at the inside of my eyelids. I kept my eyes open. No one was around. I finally exited the car again and waited outside. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Finally, the wife arrived and pulled up on the other side of my car. I went around, carrying my file. Then the husband arrived. He drove all around the building and parked in the back. No one shook my hand. No one acted like they cared much as to whether I was there or not.

When we entered the building, he directed us to a conference room with a table covered with surveys and plans for power plants. He removed one of the set of plans. I removed the other.

After we completed the closing documents, I exited the building and no one followed me. I headed to the car and drove out of the lot, winding my way around downtown Macon. Macon has some amazing buildings, most of which suffer from deterioration at some level. When you drive around Macon you feel a city which was vibrant once, but is no longer. Oh sure, there are still the parts of the residential section to the north of the business area which are well kept, for the most part. You see homes one hundred, two hundred years old. Most kept up fairly well.

But downtown is half new businesses and ghost town, all mixed together. I wish it would thrive. It deserves to thrive. Perhaps the failure of agriculture in the area has taken away its reason for being. Its sad. Meanwhile, Macon keeps growing north toward Bolinbroke and Forsyth. Maybe Monroe County will ultimately thrive as a result of the desire of all these Maconites to move away from their roots toward the empty farmlands and buildings in Forsyth and southern Monroe County.

There ought to be a impetus for replacing the old and leaving the forests and pastures alone. Perhaps this historical preservation should be primary. Make sure cities like Macon and Columbus and Americus and Albany survive.

By the time I left, the orange and pink of the sunset was disappearing through the woods on the western side of I-75. I left the interstate and returned home in darkness. This was a long day. I didn't notice stars in the skies.