Wylam? Wy Not?

I did not set out to do Wylam. Not because I didn't want to but because I was after something else. But in order to facilitate that I had to go to Wylam. My trip proved fruitless because I was talking to the wrong person and he advised me the right one would probably not be amenable to my request. So now what? Well turns out Wylam offered its own treasures so it turned into a good day after all. Wylam is another former suburb of Birmingham that got annexed into Birmingham proper. The first thing I found was a series of old power line supports. These had to be 60 or 70 years old. They still do the same thing but even public utilities make things look more modern. I suppose these still stand because they're structurally intact and it probably costs more to take them down than it's worth to leave them be.

The downtown is like so many I have seen before. As I plied the streets of Wylam I was starting to see a recurring theme. The interstate is way over there (points to the south) and with it therein lies commerce. What's left is brick monuments to a bygone era. Oh, some enterprising soul will endeavor a junk store or a barber shop but mostly they stand as vacant reminders of what had to be a vibrant community. The Mom & Pops who made the community hum.

There was the abandoned Alabama National Guard armory. I have seen them like this in the country but rarely do i encounter one in an urban area. What happened to them? Did they disband? Get rolled into other units?

I found some other cool things worth seeing. Well, worth seeing to me and perhaps you if you're still reading this. Wall art. I love wall art. Oh not all of it is as sexy as an old Coca-Cola sign of course. But it is still a written...well painted...reminder of some business's attempt to lure in customers and certainly brightens up an otherwise boring brick wall. The Sistine Chapel it's not. Or even "See Seven States" on a barn. But it's still a document of the past and worth preserving.

One thing I did find quite amusing. Well amusing in that I tripped over it. A street sign a mere 4 inches above the ground. If I had to guess this was all there was many years ago to denote which street is which. So, and of course I'm assuming here, these were designed for people on foot. When getting around in a small community meant walking to the general store or your church was on this or that street. But the good news I suppose is that even dogs and cats don't have to look up. So next time you are in Wylam (btw, you have to make the effort as Wylam is actually a little arduous to get to) make sure and look down so you don't trip over Indiana Street.

Learned an important lesson today. Google Chrome is no panacea. I wrote this entire blog two days ago and  was saving it to post later. Well turns out that's like setting hamburger out to thaw. It's fine for a while but if it sits for too long it goes bad. I tried several times to post but to no avail. So save your blogs on note cards elsewhere or be prepared to reconstruct them from memory. Technology is great...to a point.