In May, eight businesses in our historic mountain town burned to nothing but rubble. The Arts Council lost precious works of local artists; the Pizza Factory walls of local sports figures and events from over the years, and the Windows on the World Book store its entire inventory–and yes, copies of my book, hardly worth mentioning.
But true to the spirit of a small town, folks are just mighty grateful the losses did not include lives. The buzz is that rebuilding begins soon, and you can bet the new construction will not include a common attic for a multitude businesses as was done years ago when Mariposa was young.