It looked like just another day, for the most part. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and clear, the streets were wide and bright. Of course, it didn’t take long for me to remember I wasn’t in Sparta anymore once I noticed the number of cars speeding by and the number of young people milling about.

The only time you see numerous young people in Sparta is during a parade, and most of them are marching or riding in it.

At any rate, I hadn’t been to Statesville in quite a while and I was impressed with the wide sidewalks, trees planted along the street and diagonal parking all along the Main Street corridor. I was also impressed with the number and variety of businesses that were visible all along the downtown area.

Of course, I didn’t have time to visit very many of them, but I did have two nice and reasonably priced lunches there, one at a Chinese eatery and the other at a sandwich shop. I always eat Chinese food where ever I end up, it is one of my favorites. You can pretty much depend on the quality being pretty good and sometimes you luck into finding one that is excellent. Sandwich shops aren’t very exciting as a rule, but this one did lean toward the excellent side.

As I was saying of Statesville, I had to be there on assignment or I might never have gone willingly. So perhaps the amenities weren’t quite the tourist draw some of us have cracked them up to be in making the pitch to improve our own town.

But I can say that the trash cans, trees and other touches, such as markers set into the sidewalks, made my visit there much more pleasant. The town of Sparta will never be the bustling city that Statesville is, with its college campus and government buildings to help draw people on a long-term basis. I don’t think anyone who is very familiar with the town wants that to happen. However, we could have wider sidewalks and other touches that would help make people who came downtown feel like staying awhile and be happy that they did.

Last year, I took part in a visioning forum to help picture the future of downtown. Based on my mental picture after the event, the end result wouldn’t be all that far removed from present-day Statesville.

Oh, there were problems here and there, garbage and refuse was found in a few spots and a ruffian element could be seen lurking here and there, but people seemed to be heading downtown as a destination, a place to have lunch or shop, instead of just passing through on their way somewhere else. That’s what we need to figure out how to do.

While many people do have business to do in Sparta, most of them pay their bill (or bills) or get their hair cut and then head out of town. With more aesthetic surroundings, it would be easier to envision our downtown as a destination.

Then again, there is something to be said for downtown Sparta, with its shops and stores, old buildings and run-for-your-life intersection at N.C. 18 and U.S. 21. It has a charm that says ‘home’ to me and many others. Just because you don’t have the prettiest house in the neighborhood doesn’t mean it isn’t home.

I was in Statesville covering a portion of a trial, so the time spent wasn’t entirely pleasant. There really is nothing pleasant about covering a trial, in my way of looking at it. Oh sure, one might get caught up in the proceedings, the to and fro of the legal system, but in my estimation, if I never saw the interior of another courthouse, that would be just fine by me. Those hard seats, long-winded lawyers and serious faces are not something I will miss. Hours and hours of sitting are not one of my specialties, either; but I got plenty of practice at it this week.

I was just pleased that I only had to go two days, while representatives of the newspaper were there for the entire event, from Tuesday through this Monday’s verdict.

The day prior to the beginning of the trial, I had an appointment in Charlotte to pick up some furniture, so I have had my fill of travel in general for one week. The furniture, a large hutch, was purchased for a reasonable price on one of the Internet’s many sites for such commerce. As badly as I hate driving through Charlotte on a week day, I determined that the seller should have paid me.

As for Statesville, no matter how pleasant the environs of the downtown area may have been, the first thing I did when the assignment was over each day was to drive home. I didn’t want to pass ‘Go’ or find a neat place to shop, I didn’t even want to eat. My only goal was to see that Alleghany County line.

Therefore, I can deduce that wide sidewalks aren’t all there is to it. There’s just something about these mountains that almost seem to call me back home when I leave, even for a day.

By Saturday, I was ready for a day of rest. I decided to spend the day at home with my family; I didn’t even talk to anyone on the telephone that I can recall. Among the activities for the day, not counting a period of reading and a lengthy nap, was working on two wooden puzzles, both of which I eventually figured out how to assemble. I enjoy puzzles, especially three-dimensional ones, provided I have enough of an idea how it looks assembled to get started and plenty of time to fool with it.

One was an odd spiked ball shape, while the other looked more like a cube of interspersed logs. I got so far as to disassemble the third, a bunch of sticks held together in a jumble by smaller sticks, but opted not to try and put it back together. Some things are better saved for times with the most patience. Since I am not known for extraordinary patience, I figured it might be better to wait for a rainy day.

Since I didn’t do much this past weekend, I’m hoping it doesn’t rain this coming week. A little bit of loafing can go a very long way toward getting a body behind on work. By Monday, I was so far behind at the office that I wasn’t sure I’d ever see my way out.

Not that being behind would be anything unusual, quite the contrary. There is one thing for which I am thankful; I won’t be heading back to Statesville any time soon. I’ll be more than happy with our own narrow sidewalks with utility poles jutting out here and there for at least the next few years. I’m sure someone will have a plan to make everything perfect by then.

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