The good, the bad and the ugly still

Look around, look at your neighborhood, look in your closet, glance in the mirror.

A myriad of compromise exists.

It all blends, weaves and migrates into a transom of suitability.

Now broaden that view into a country, into a world and finally into a cosmos.

That 's the surreal blend I witnessed when I took my family to the beach over the holiday weekend.

The good was the mix of serenity in clear water, fine sand and bright open sky.

The bad was the expense of driving, the challenge of parking and all the aching walking.

The ugly was the thought of a workweek soon to commence, the visible and aromatic pollution and the reminder that time is eating away at our mortal longevity.

All walks of life use the beach. There are the swimmers, the sun worshipers, the people watchers and the sandcastle builders.

Visually there's the rocky landscape near the water, the blistering sand, baked from the direct sunlight and even a sparse patch of preserved prairie dune encapsulated in its own segment near a breakwater.

Looking to the south, the high-rise buildings of downtown appear as a scenic mecca.

Viewing to the north is a vision of parks and trees almost rural in appearance.

To the east is nothing but a horizon doted with sailboats, jet skies and custom yachts. That only leaves where the sun sets, the direction of west.

Where the pioneers bravely ventured into the Old West to claim new outposts and towns. West is where the immigrants ventured from Ellis Island to establish new roots and a melting pot of unique cultures still present today.

Now it's where the sprawl continues to turn farmland and countryside into newly developed villages and communities.

West is where ancient civilization is adapting to modern amenities. Yet still retains many of the basic traditions from thousands of years ago.

The planet is attempting to get "greener." Wars, disease and economic depravity still exist!

Politicians continuously clash ideas and mores. The good, the bad and the ugly. History indeed repeats itself.

Still facing the same difficulties with the same rhetoric and the same lame results, only a different generation.

Randy F. Gollay

Buffalo Grove