This is the End

"... My only friend, the end..."

Funny how a fleeting glimpse, and insignificant moment in passing can bring forth a song we first heard, who knows how many years ago, and has been replayed who knows how many times since then. Even though the two - glimpse and song - may have nothing in common, there is some link between present and past, a continuation from then to now.

On the way to work the other day I noticed some early morning demolition taking place along the north side of Guasti; bulldozers were spewing smoke from their stacks and the old termite infested house mid-block on 4th was a collection of piles of rubble. Next door at the old Cutting Edge BMX track both the pro shop and the observation tower were gone and, while I could not see over the enclosing berm along the street, I was pretty sure the rough remains of the track were being flattened out of existence, destruction of evidence.

The next morning I remembered to bring my camera to take a few last shots. I strode up the little rise from the street and sure enough, someone unknowing of the history would never know that a pro shop existed on the site. Likewise the one time groomed track of banked turns, undulating straights and tabletops, was not a flat expanse of turned earth punctuated with tombstones in the shape of half-buried palm trees. The place was not completely springtime fresh, there was still some concrete on the east-side berm, with some fencing and tube steel framework. I imagine they will be gone soon, perhaps by tomorrow, and the site will be ready for whatever comes next.





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