Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Happy Birthday Millersville!

Millersville is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. I guess the extent of our part in the celebration is to buy the book that was printed for the celebration. We have now lived here about 45 years. Actually we don't really live in Millersville since our property line is the borough line and we are actually in Manor Twp. But I can walk about 15 feet out my den door and be in Millersville.So we usually say that we live in Millersville. Recently one of my sons and I were driving through town and he remarked how much that he liked Millersville and how many good memories he has of the town. I was a little surprised because I do not have the same feelings. I have never really enjoyed this town and have never felt a part of it even though I've spent over 60% of my life here, including 39 years working here. When I graduated from college I had four job interviews - Donegal, Elizabethtown, Hershey and Penn Manor. I was offered jobs at all four places and the Lord led us to choose Penn Manor. Our first few years here we lived about 20 minutes away. When we finally moved to town I could walk to work or else drive there in about 5 minutes. That was enough for me to stay here, eliminating those drives in bad weather. And we've stayed because I don't want to take another mortgage at my age and the thought of packing and moving sort of "blows my mind". Now why don't I like Millersville. First there is no downtown shopping area as there is in a place like Lititz. It was fun growing up to be able to walk downtown and shop and meet folks. The shop keepers all knew you. Not here. Millersville is a college town and that means you put up with the noise and drinking and bad behavior. And it does exist and little appears to be done to control it. There is a law about open beverages but one can drive around and see the drinking parties held openly with nobody enforcing the law. Then there are the out-of-town landlords that buy up homes to rent to college students. We are becoming surrounded by these situations. A friend of ours is desperately trying to sell his house because of all the college students now surrounding them. And despite their complaints to the authorities, nothing is done about the problems. Then there is the major problem of traffic. Thousands of commuters tie up the few narrow roads into and out of town. Don't try to get out of town quickly on a Friday afternoon - impossible. Fortunately a few traffic lights now allow you to at least get across the main street when school is in session. A few years ago there was an attempt to provide a by-pass and another access road to the college to relieve the problem. But the borough officials voted it down because they didn't want to encourage additional developments. But now we have the additional developments and the traffic is worse. Fortunately I don't need to find parking in town. But the college has failed to provide adequate parking lots for their commuters. My grandson often has to drive around campus for 30-45 minutes to locate a parking space when he goes to class. And finally, our neighborhood is very suburban with most folks keeping to themselves. Now part of the problem could be ours, but most of us have little in common except that we exist here. Now why don't we move now that I am retired? Good question. We considered moving to Lititz (I think my heart is still there) after my dad died. But Lititz has its own traffic problems. It is much, much farther to church and to our doctors. It would mean a mortgage which we don't want at this point in our lives and it would mean packing and packing and packing. It would mean all sorts of work to sell our house and after selling my dad's house I'm just not ready for that adventure once again. So the Lord has provided this home for us and until He leads differently we will probably stay. I do know one thing, however. We won't stay another 45 years for we have a mansion being prepared for us and that will surpass anything we could have on this earth. But, happy birthday Millersville.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful campus!