Contravention

Monica: Development in the present is so often a contravention to the past. Walking in downtown Santa Cruz, I'm saddened to see all the new boxy buildings that have gone up in the last 10 years. This particular junction of Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street holds fond memories for me. That hideous green/tan/orange building looming six stories above the street was once the home of a humble single-story building and parking lot where I worked for nearly two years: Gateways Books. Sometime in the early 2000's, a developer decided to put up a multi-use business/residential building here which now houses a fast-food chain and some high-end stores. The funky local flavor is slowly being devoured by ugly utilitarian buildings and all-too-familiar chain stores that blight so many American towns and cities. It makes me thankful for where I live now, a rural community on the north coast that so far holds no interest for big businesses. It's too remote and there aren't enough people here to warrant that kind of development. I know it only may be a matter of time...

Evelyn: Carrying his delicious funk of dead worms and squashed frogs with pride, his notable stinky Cheeto odor that permeates his aura after two weeks of freedom, eventually, I decide, the dog must be bathed. It is in the arms of the mobile puppy express that he puts on the most reckless of puppy-dog-eyes, gazing at me for a pardon, and staring back into the bathing cabin like I was throwing him to the gators. Such a contravention is almost criminal, yet the pleasant smell of baby-shampoo and his damp and fluffy fur make it a necessary sacrifice.