Something Different

Newburgh, Indiana

The last time I went to Newburgh, Indiana, 
Was when my mom and I had spent a weekend there.
July 2017.
Things have definitely changed since the last time I came down.
When I was a kid,
My family and I would go down all the time,
To spend as much as a month there.
We would do so much during that time.
Such as going to the zoo in Evansville,
Going to the state park to swim and paddleboat.
Visiting my extended family was also a frequent routine.
Celebrating Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July,
Was something we'd do all the time.
We would often get ice cream at a local parlor on Indiana 66.
And chocolates at the shoppe in Evansville.
Oh my goodness, those cherry bagels were pretty great.
I remember how sweet they were.
There was so much that we did, including an occasional visit to the dam.
When I was five, I saw a dance troupe doing the can-can.
I wanted to dance with them.
Alas, I had no idea I really wanted to be a dancer.
We'd also get food from an American chain buffet in Evansville.
There was a nice hotel across a walkway.
They had awesome curtains.
And a pond overlooking the general area.
A fountain, where the ducks would avoid.
We fed them leftover bread that we didn't take home with us.
Then, there was the library,
Where we would check out as many books and movies as humanly possible,
Until it was moved from downtown Newburgh,
To the supermarket where the cherry bagels came from.
1992-2006.
Between the fifth and eighth grades,
I would think about my ideas,
When I first started writing Rockybado.
After an advertising project from school.
2004.
In seventh grade, we would still visit Newburgh every now and then.
I came up with my ideas for The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs and The Magic Video Game.
2005.
When I smell sunscreen,
I think of the time spent getting ready to go swimming,
At the same state park forty-five minutes away from my grandparents' house.
It was a great time, really.
I could go on and on about my time in Newburgh, Indiana.
My blog would be so long.
I wondered how my grandparents' move from Newburgh to Valparaiso,
Would affect my ideas for my writing projects.
The last trip to my grandparents' house before the move was sad. 
Moving everything out of the house.
2006.
​I did not make a trip back to Evansville until my junior year in high school.
The zoo housed a vintage car show.
There were fewer giraffes.
I did not get my thumb bitten off by an emu.
The fries weren't as great as before.
Things were starting to change.
2009.
Made another visit a year later.
Ate seafood and rode on the back of a motorcycle.
Things were presumably the same.
2010.
Came down for a reunion three years later.
Things seemed to be the same.
Ate some good food made by extended family.
2013.
Came back down to Newburgh, Indiana a year later.
Things drastically changed.
There used to be an open field by my grandparents' house.
My brother found some crawdads in that field.
Now, people were living in that area.
Apartment complexes were somehow established in such short period of time.
I visited the Ohio River with my extended family and siblings.
2014.
My mom and I visited Owensboro for a conference, and also to try southern style barbecue.
We also drove around Evansville,
Since I never really saw it before.
We visited an art museum once, and we would sometimes go on the outskirts.
Evansville is really a cool city with some opportunities for growth.
As if it hasn't grown so much already.
Stayed at a friend's for the night. We watched poker.
While sipping on beer with the fan blowing over us.
The next morning, we were by my grandparents' house.
Things changed even more.
The telephone pole in my grandparents' yard that I was so afraid of,
Was removed, and was replaced with an even scarier telephone pole.
The Chinese food was pretty good. Now I'm craving some beef lo mein.
There are even more apartments that were built where the open field used to be.
Well, that was still a great weekend. 
2017.
Here I am, in the library, reminiscing about all of the fun things that we've done,
In Newburgh, Indiana.
Even though things will never be the same as once before,
There are some cool things,
​In Newburgh, Indiana.