On Center
by BRENDA STEWART
Well, it’s official. Summer is finally over according to the folks across Hays CISD. All the local kiddos have stuffed their bare feet back into the confines of their new sneakers and loaded up their backpacks to begin another school year. I had to laugh at the teens at corner bus stops yawning and staring blankly as if it were dawn. Then I turned the corner onto Center Street and hit the traffic stacked up from end to end with exasperated commuters hugging each other’s bumpers, acting as if all the parents and students were trespassing on their morning streets.
Keep in mind that talking or texting on your cell phone in a school zone is a crime that carries a hefty fine. Past that, it’s moronic. So hang up, slow down and watch out for these kiddos that are still a bit dazed and confused. Ironically, they only have ten days of school before their first holiday.
Being a master procrastinator, I waited until Saturday morning to deal with the fact that the straps were ripping off of one of my kid’s school backpack. In a panic, I was mentally going through the list of all the super-moms who volunteer to create costumes for the school play and tack on merit badges to scout uniforms. Then I remembered Sylvia’s, Kyle’s tailor. Sharing that white, wooden house on the corner of Center and Rebel Drive, her shop entrance faces south, and she graciously reckoned with my poor planning and mended the backpack within a couple of hours. Good to know that there is someone local who has the patience and skill to replace a zipper or re-stitch a hem. And nice to be able to recycle those clothes and bags instead of constantly replacing them.
On the other end of Center, it looked like quite the party downtown last Wednesday when Center Street Salon threw open its doors to celebrate their grand opening. And if the turnout was any indication of their future success, it’s going to be amazing. The salon was packed to the rafters with the crowd spilling out onto the front porch. And from the looks of things, these guys have you covered – from tip to tail, hair to nails so come downtown and get pampered.
