Tempus Fugit

I was walking up Broadway Sunday morning under threatening skies and the occasional raindrop to somehow mark Father's Day when I saw the banners suspended at Chelsea Parade near Norwich Free Academy, one atop the other. 

The lower one read "Congratulations Class of 2019" in honor of last Wednesday's graduates and above it, an invitation from the Police Athletic League to sign up for the fall soccer season. 

Talk about the blink of an eye! It's a reminder that the passage of time is both a constant and a variable, depending on your perspective. For those who graduated last week, those previous four years just flew past, right? But if you're lacing up your boots and waiting until the fall season gets here sure feels like forever, doesn't it? 

In downtown Saturday as the 31st Juneteenth celebrations were enveloping Franklin Square and beyond in good vibes, good food, and new friendships, Apollo Ziembrowski was putting the final touches on his "Open for Business" sign in front of his provisional shop in the old Bulletin building, just down the sidewalk from Epicure Brewing, Foundry 66, and These Guys Brewing Company. 

It's a placeholder until his space on Broadway, between Cafe Otis and Craftsman Cliff Roasters, and across from Monocle gets finished and his Apollo's Bike Shop joins the ever-expanding offering of goods and services downtown Norwich is offering, fueled by the fearlessness of enthusiastic beginners, something that's been a scarcity for decades around here, new people with more faith in themselves than fear of failing. 

But here's the thing: I just rattled off a list of established businesses we pass by every day which we now see as part of Chelsea but NONE of them existed this time four years ago. For those who complain about how there's nothing happening in downtown and for those who keep telling me about Norwich's 'Good Old Days,' you're both wrong. These are the best of times, so far.

And before you shake your head, let me note I own all the Bill Stanley books and have browsed the Bulletin articles in the Otis Library because I wasn't here for large parts of the 'back in the day' stuff but I recall first visiting downtown on a fall weekend in 1991 and wondering 'what the hell happened here?' as I walked for blocks from the (old) Otis Library to the Harbor and saw just about no one anywhere. 

That's certainly not the case now. Not only are there feet on the street (see, I was listening during Saturday's meeting), we have destinations we’re going to. And yet we are a city with many who mourn what was but is now gone and those dissatisfied with what we are because there's not more of it fast enough to suit them. 

All of that brings me back to my earlier description of time as both a constant and a variable. Every moment contains equal parts of then, now, and next. It's what we do in each moment we have that matters most. Carpe diem.

For those reinvigorating downtown Norwich, carpeing the heck out of every diem, thanks, and I can't wait for tomorrow because the best is yet to come.

-bill kenny