- Sitting in traffic on Peachtree Street in Atlanta and reflecting how the Temple-Hebrew Benevolent Congregation synagogue is hanging in there despite being surrounded by tall buildings, utility wires and expressway ramps. - It was shown in the film Driving Miss Daisy (1989) with some judicious masking of buildings around it so it would look as it did in 1958. Not sure they could cover up the tall building hovering over it these days.
- This area of Peachtree Street has undergone quite a transformation during the last few years. The tall building behind the synagogue stands in the spot in which one of my friends lived in an apartment building. She was trying to decide the direction her life should take next, when she got the notice of the building being torn down. She decided to move to Los Angeles, a long-time dream, and as she passed her apartment building for the last time on the way to the airport, she saw a wrecking ball go through the pink walls of her living room.
23 comments:
Hi Lynn,
Seeing a wrecking ball go through what used to be home for someone - hmm...I wonder if that was a hard thing to watch - or if it was liberating given the life changes this led to? I think of my childhood home, which my parents have just moved out of...and how it was sad to see it sold...although now, all is good and their new home feels very much like "home" again...
Lance -
I think there was some irony to the coincidence of seeing the wrecking ball go through her apartment. And probably liberating. She had a great time in LA for a few years and is now living in Montana on a ranch.
I imagine that was hard to see your childhood home sold. Their new home must feel like home again because they are in it.
Making such a life-changing decision, it's sort of helpful to know there's no going home again. Neat!
I love when older buildings remain - it lends credence to that old expression, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
ooh, that would feel very sad to watch, great photo. i wanted to give you a heads up, today is the g-mans birthday and i have posted a birthday card for him on my blog, my goal is to get a bunch of bloggers to copy and paste the card on their blogs, perhaps for tonight's 55 if you play, and then we can all surprise him with a cyber birthday celebration. he is not feeling well today and will not check up on us until later. ok i have quite a few more people to invite into the fun hope you can join in, have a wonderful day.
Talon -
That is the longest traffic light in creation - I sat through it changing three times while trying to get on I85-north. I started thinking about how the temple is sitting amid all that modernity and snapped the photo. The police officer in front of me was watching in his rear view mirror. And can I say, if I was him, I might have been tempted to turn the blue light on and go around all those cars. :)
Clean and Crazy -
I wished G-man a happy birthday today. Thanks for stopping by.
I have to say I love the tall building, but I love all things modern!
Seeing a wrecking ball must be strange, but also a reminder that home really is where the heart is.
Joe -
The contrast between the old and the new is certainly striking.
Wow, talk about being given a sign from the Universe that it's useless to look back! I can't imagine watching the wrecking ball go through my old place -- but I've gone back to find old, beloved homes destroyed or remodeled to where you cannot recognize them. And God/dess knows that time itself, and the changes within ourselves, make things unrecognizable... beautiful photo and thoughts, Lynn!
Wow, that is a bit spooky. Seeing a wrecking ball go through your former abode sounds a bit unnerving to say the least.
That last line is surreal! I can't imagine what that would be like to watch.
Meredith -
My sisters recently drove down the street in Macon where my grandparents lived. We heard that the houses were crumbling. Their house was completely gone and the thing is - they had a magical garden. I used to pretend it was the Secret Garden - full of blooming plants, flowers and bushes with an little fishpond and an enormous pecan tree in the middle of the back yard. I like to think that in the spring some of those flowers will still come up amid the tangled weeds and growth left behind.
G -
It is the nature of the kinds of things that happen to this gal. Not necessarily a bad thing in her case. Life ahead turned so much better.
Riot Kitty -
I hope you are enjoying your trip. Yes - it was surreal to hear about anyway.
Interesting perspective of the old and new. Thanks for sharing.
Mark -
Hello and thanks for coming by - I am always interested to hear how people came across my blog. I had a quick look at your very informative blog and will be back when I can spend more time.
I love the picture, it really does capture the old/new difference, although even the old looks wonderful. When I was young, I loved old houses, building, etc. Now ---I love the new, the modern. Perhaps having a house more than a hundred years old for fifteen years cured me.
Happy Friday!
Jamie -
I kind of like it when old and new are mixed in together. The area around Peachtree and 10th Street in Atlanta, known back in the day as "the strip," bothers me because it has lost its character. Just a load of glass buildings now.
i liek miss daisy, driving she is my frend wot babysits me wen my jannie goes to the mal.
Getting a notice your building was to be torn down could only lead to better times! Always a silver lining.
We have quite a few of those wonderful hold out buildings here to. Austin has undergone such a lot of building lately.
Oh Blue Bunny -
I am glad you have a Miss Daisy to drive you.
Jannie -
I've heard such great things about Austin - I would love to see it.
I'll have to watch Driving Miss Daisy again n look for the Temple- but the music always gets me tired n I fall asleep!
Think I remember Peachtree from one of the first posts I read here, awhile back. (or maybe my old friend, Ellen, from Atlanta mentioned it)
Nothing like thinking of change, n then suddenly being forced into it! Sometimes change is very good tho!
Snaggle -
I agree - sometimes change is very good.
I was sitting in exactly the same spot trying to get on 85 North a few months ago when a man was walking down the sidewalk carrying a lifesize cutout of himself. He appeared to be a rap artist. That might be what you were thinking about - I titled it "Why I keep my camera with me all the time." :)
The wrecking ball is sad.
I love how the synagogue sits in the middle of everything.
Cookie -
A good mix of old and new around there for sure.
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