When Coolness Wears Off

The Sandy Starships Theater opened December 1980. It was a four-screen theater in a strip-mall in Sandy, Utah. The theater had a futuristic design, as if it were a spaceship, and even had a robot mascot. The Sandy 9 theatres became the dollar scene and patrons stood in line on the lit up “space station” floor waiting in line for the new releases that were shown at the Sandy Starships theater.

Starships closed after its 20-year lease expired in November 2000.  But long before it closed, the once hip full price theatre tapered off to dollar prices.  The coolness had worn off. The starship had lost its appeal before it was even a decade.  What was once prestige had earned “junkie”, “dirty” and “cheap”. The Starship failed though Sandy 9 remains.

There are several landmarks that seem aged and run down – either the land has shifted or our desires have.  We find something better, more satisfying, less costly – or perhaps it’s just the economy that rips us apart.

Recently Kayla posted to facebook the closing of Hollywood Connections – which I recently mentioned in this post.  Roland and Jenna had gone there to skate and then Jenna went upstairs to play the arcades.  The selection of prices was pathetic. 

When we left, Roland asked if I wanted to go miniature golfing.  It was almost 9:00 – I was getting tired.  Jenna had school in the morning.  I thought that we could return the following week.  Had I known that the facility would close in just four days, I would have gone ahead and played.

Kayla had expressed sadness over the loss.  She and Bill had gone there on their first date.  I am not surprised to see them close.  Their cliental has decreased drastically over the years – or so it appears.

The first couple of times we had taken Jenna, it was crowded.   We waited in line to get on the rides.  Even the theatres were doing better when we first moved to West Valley.  But over time, the crowds thinned out.  Not all of the rides were open.  The dragon coaster has been out of operation at least since September.  We know because it was Jenna’s favorite ride.  Vanished. 

Megaplex took away a lot, I would imagine.  It is the new hot thing - and I wonder if maybe one day it too will be a relic as people move on to another discovery, another coolness.  And all that we have will be memories.

That’s Pretty Good for 42 years

         I notice as I age, parts of me don’t seem willing to move as well and my balance seems to be thrown off.  Actually has been for quite some time.  Sometimes it’s like when you have your arms spread out to either side from your shoulders and you lift one foot while trying to close your eyes.  Go ahead and try it.  I’ve not met anyone yet that can make it to a full minute.

Two years ago I had an MRI as I thought I’d been having stroke related symptoms.  Nothing was found.  But today I keep dad’s walker quite near the bed and have used it at night just to balance myself while getting up.  I have not yet used it to assist my walking.

As of now I don’t feel any different as far as balance goes. I do seem to be experiencing a little more pain in different places – like just behind my left knee – when I twisted it while exiting a bus.  The pain comes and goes. 

The other day Jenna was balancing on the wall and got off when she realized it led to a dead end.  I jokingly told her that I had expected her to leap from one wall to the next.

“Do you want me to?” she asked.

“No,” I panicked hoping she wouldn’t try.  If she missed, she would have gotten hurt. 

So with the next set of walls she said, “Look mom.  I’m leaping” and stepped down – which wasn’t a leap.

We crossed a set of tracks and I tried to demonstrate to her what a leap looks like.  Came out more like a Bernstein Bear teachable moment, as I lost balance and crashed to the ground – feeling pain on scraped knees and forehead.  I felt blessed that I wasn’t bleeding from the ungraceful land.

Tears rolled down my cheeks because I hurt.  I was foolish to try something I hadn’t attempted for several years. Jenna did her best to cheer me up – which was actually not cheering me, but annoyed me the more she tried to cheer me.  She sounded like a broken record.

The next day she asked if I was okay.  My knees were tender still.  She didn’t want to offend me by having me relive the moment I tried to leap but lost my balance.  She said my fall looked rather cool – like I had attempted an awesome ninja roll.  Really?  That’s what it looked like?  It certainly did not feel that way.

Saturday Roland said that he would take her skating.  He said he would skate with her.  Maybe we could do it for family home evening on Monday – tonight.  And so after dinner, we went to Hollywood Connections and Roland purchased wristbands for him and Jenna.  Both had invited me to skate, but after my ungraceful leap/graceful fall, I was not about to add wheels to my already unbalanced frame.

Jenna uses the walker as she can’t seem to get the hang of gliding.  She looks like she does when she is riding her scooter.  Using her left leg to move her around.  

Roland started out hugging the walls.  He fell his second time around.  I told him to move his feet outward instead of in front.   He got pretty good and went around just a bit faster and away from the walls.  It was a lot of work for his body.  Not bad for an out-of-shape and over sixty-year old.  I don’t know how many times he went around.  I would guess at least ten.  He said he hadn’t been on roller skates since 1972.  Holy Cow!  He was 19 and I was still in elementary school!

 I had fun watching them. My legs hurt as though I had been out there with them.

Roland thinks he’s going to be sore tomorrow.  He knows he needs the exercise.  I exercise with Jenna everyday when I walk her to and from school.  And the wheels we use are on the bus and not on our feet.