IT'S DANGEROUS DOWNTOWN

     I live in a small city of 100000 people. Like any other modern city the downtown is much different than it used to be. there are very few stand alone stores. There are the banks, a few restaurants and offices. After hours the downtown is vacant and disreputable character take over the streets. I would not go there.

    Now I'm not an urban person. I could stay away from cities forever. I like the wind , clouds, smells, birds, trees, animals and quiet. I'm attuned to these things. 

    Now I have to go downtown often enough so that I know what's going on. Our main library is downtown. So is city hall and the court house.

    This spring I noticed a jack rabbit in the middle of the busy street in front of the library. Other people had noticed this critter and had seen it many times. They thought there were two of them. The large City Hall Park and court house grounds gave them some good habitat. However, I'd seen this rabbit going down paved city alleys. What a lonely pathetic sight for such an interesting animal. The rabbit I'm talking about is much bigger than any cat.

    Many of the wild critters seem to be able to navigate city traffic. I've seen deer waiting on the road side for a chance to cross.

    Yesterday as I was going down the main thoroughfare I noticed my poor jack rabbit lying dead on the road. Yes, it's dangerous downtown.