This column was due to run this past Wednesday, June 19th, my 65th birthday. I think it is somewhat fitting that I totally forgot about it and our editor saved my butt by having another column available from someone who doesn't tend to procrastinate as much as I.
I thought it was somewhat symbolic to forget the column as an entry to what is generally termed seniors' status. A symbolic senior's moment, if you will. Little did I realize that life had bigger plans to mark the transition. Just after midnight of my 65th year, I had my second GTA. GTA stands for global transient amnesia. It is the loss of short-term memory, which lasts for an hour or two and occurs mostly to those over 50 - and no, it wasn't alcohol induced. I am sure societies as a whole are subject to something similar every few years. GTA unfortunately looks like a potential stroke. So off in the ambulance to emergency we went. Since I had a bout of GTA in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area, which also looks like it might have a stroke) a few years back, I wasn't overly concerned as none of the other symptoms of a stroke were present.
Although it is not a great way to spend a night, it was reassuring to see the great work the staff at Delta Hospital, and in the ambulance service, perform. I was finely released at 4 a.m. and spent most of my birthday in a fog. (Nothing unusual there!)
So life moves on and not all the changes are appreciated. But there are trade-offs of the good with the bad and we live with and adapt to the changes. Similarly, communities change and some of the changes are good and others not so much.
Once again change is a bogie man for Delta. There are currently several development proposals working their way through the process that are attracting much debate and criticism. There is the MK Lands development adjacent to Burns Bog, the revised proposal for Marina Garden Estates and, of course, that trusty old standby, the Southlands. These are all overshadowed by the potential development on the Tsawwassen First Nation lands.
Earlier this week I headed out Highway 10 bound for an all-day meeting in Abbotsford. I use to travel this route frequently in years past when I had responsibility for group newspapers in Chilliwack and Abbotsford. However, for the last dozen years I have rarely ventured in that direction.
Heading east though Delta on Highway 10 was through a very familiar landscape - essentially unchanged in the last dozen years. However, once you get into Surrey, the route is unrecognizable. The road is now four lanes and well paved. In Delta, there was still a heavily patched two-lane road.
The change is even more dramatic as you get near to Cloverdale.
There has been an explosion of population and commercial activity in the area. So is all this growth a good thing or a bad thing?
Probably a bit of both. Delta is going to change. We have avoided much of the population pressures on the Lower Mainland. Our population is going to grow and those living here now will have to adapt and help ensure the good points surpass the bad.
