By Mandy Fotheringham
Juxtaposition: “The instance of placing close together, especially for contrast or comparison.”
Walking downtown the other day, I was hit, both literally and almost figuratively (but more on that later), by how many juxtapositions Bethel offers.
Having just dropped my younger daughter off for a music lesson, I harnessed my dogs and older daughter (OK – that one wasn’t literal!) and off we meandered. I would say “Off we walked” or “Off we went” but my 2 dogs, despite weighing in at under 20 lbs each, have the pulling power of Sherman tanks and the directional savvy of a seasick GPS.
The first thing I noticed was how the trees and bushes had burst into bloom while I had been away the previous week.
After taking a few pictures with my phone (hence the “organic” quality to my pictures this week!), and feeling overcome by the beauty of spring, I heard “sniffle, snuffle, Hello, Bandy! What are you doing?” It was a friend out walking her (beautifully behaved) dog who had noticed my two going round and round in ever-decreasing circles, seeing who could hold onto the other one’s ear for the longest.
“Are you OK?” I asked worriedly. “Sniff, snuffle, ATCHOOOO!”, was the reply, followed by the wiping of streaming eyes and nose. “I hate spring,” she declared.
Juxtaposition #1. Here I was, enjoying the glory of nature and all it had to offer, and along came someone to whom it was awful. Torture, almost. “Bust go,” she declared and off she went, with a final, earth-shattering “ATCHOO!”
The walk continued and I came across a Yin Yang sign and a heart made with white gravel stones. I stopped to take pictures.
“Look,” I said to my daughter. Someone’s gone to a lot of effort to put an outward sign of peace and love on their property, right on the edge by the sidewalk so everyone can see them and understand their message.”
No sooner were these words out my mouth than I heard her yelp and turned around in time to see four burly youths bearing down on me on their bikes, sweat dripping, shirts flying, conversation flowing freely. I don’t think they even saw me as I leapt into the road and they roared past at breakneck speed, right where I had been standing. Peaceful? Hardly! Especially not the language that was being bantered back and forth! Legs like jelly after my narrow encounter, I looked once more at these symbols of peace and thought – Juxtaposition #2.
The last juxtaposition is, for me, the saddest of them all. It involves flowers again – what can I say? I love flowers! Further along our walk we came to the most gorgeous carpet of purple flowers.
Besides the fact that purple is my favorite color, these delicate blooms formed a lush, deep swath across the ground. After seeing such beauty at floor level, I decided to keep my eyes to the ground for a bit longer to see what other gems I would find. Gems? Hardly.
A cigarette box. A candy wrapper. A coffee cup in a bush. Junk mail... the picture will tell the story. It was a pitiful display of folks walking the main street’s sidewalks and thoughtlessly discarding their trash. Some of it was in front of a church, some in tree roots and some in a bush.
Is this a juxtaposition we want in our town – one we’re prepared to live with? Allergies are something we can deal with at a personal level, Teens will be teens and nobody was hurt. BUT when we have one of the most beautiful downtowns in CT, okay I’m biased but I really believe this to be true, is this juxtaposition of beauty versus trash something we should be content to see continue?
Editor's note: Mandy took some wonderful photos which don't seem to be showing up in the article. Our apologies while our tech department fixes the issue. In the meantime, if you would like to see the photos that accompany this article please go to our Bethel Hamlet Hub Facebook page by clicking here and clicking on the "Opposites in Nature" photo album. Thanks for your patience as we work out the kinks!