Walmart Ate My Sand Pit

"W" stands for evil, again.

My hometown of Victor, NY has been rapidly engulfed by "progress." It started with the McMansion housing developments with their requisite private golf courses, and continued with the expanding Eastview Mall, which has grown like some non-lethal, invasive bacteria over the past 10-15 years. The Thruway got wider and the natural habitat got smaller. Now there are churches and retirement communities where there used to be fields and forests.

We observed the latest encroachment on our post-Christmas walk to the Sand Pit. This has become somewhat of a holiday tradition to get some fresh air; burn off some calories from all of the food, beer, wine, and cookies; and escape the chaos of Inside. We walk down our (much busier) street, past the historic marker indicating a famous battle between the French and the local Seneca tribe in 1687 (which is placed in someone's front yard), continue past the Old Trailer Park--just an overgrown, swampy lot when I was a kid, the trailers gone soon after I was born, now the site of a new house with another on the way. From there we leave the road and wander up a dirt path through trees and brush. The path takes you up a hill and over a ridge where you can see the NYS Thruway (I-90) on your left and an occasional house on your right, partially obscured by trees and thorn bushes.

The path used to end at a sand pit; a childhood wonderland. It was full of enormous dirt piles that we used to ride our bikes up, down, and sometimes over. It was a parents worst nightmare--a secluded spot with ample opportunities for someone to wreck their bike or break a leg. It was so cool.

In spite of an epic battle familiar to other small towns fighting the good fight, the end of the trail looks a bit different today. Now, there's a giant parking lot, a Kohls, and a Walmart Supercenter (Opening Soon!).

Sigh. I wonder where the children of Victor, NY practice their daring bike stunts these days. And what did Walmart do with all of that sand? Maybe Progress eats dirt.