Ken and I moved to Bowen in 1996. Believe it or not, that makes us “old timers” in comparison to the majority of the population of people who live here now. That’s just weird, but I guess we are “old timers” most of the places we go. We got here just in time; Bowen moved out of our league about 10 years ago. The ferry cost $12. in 1996 and today it is almost $40. Other things have changed as well, some very obvious and dramatic, and others just have that “feel.”

Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not against change. How could I be? I’ve made a life study of change. Yin to Yang and back again.

Some communities change with planning and some just look up one day and wonder what happened. Bowen does both.

But, I heard on the radio a story about another small town that was re-deigning itself. The comment that got me was, “We’d like to put the stream over there.”

In the short 16 years we have been on Bowen, we have seen changes that newcomers don’t know about. For example, the library, and the gas station used to be in different locations. Actually for a while we didn’t even have a gas station. Blue Eyed Marys (which closed last week) used to be Victors, local musicians would play there in the evenings for donations, and it was not unusual to pull the chair out from your table to find a cat sitting on it, purring. Changes at the Cape have been huge. Bowen has a Mayor now and an artificial turf soccer field.

So, before I get all hoity-toity about a town deciding where to put the stream, I guess I should tell you that where the post office on Bowen is right now, use to be a rock. A really, really big rock!

I worked in the building next to the pharmacy while they were taking this giant rock down. I watched and heard them blast that big rock away, piece by piece, making way for the buildings that are now the Village Square.

I suppose if folks can blast a huge rock to smithereens to put up a post office, it would be kinda fun to be the person who decides just where a stream should go.

Personally, I’d like a panoramic view from our patio, please.