Now this is what I call progress!

Today, while running errands, I came through an intersection that I'd not really paid attention to in a while.  Or it could be the new glasses giving me a different enough view of the world that I'm seeing more.  Or it could be all the meditation and being instead of doing.  It could be all of the above.

Or it could just be that it's Friday the thirteenth?

Whatever the case may be, I noticed something different about the intersection.  Something changed, new, missing.

Here is the intersection a year ago:

The above image was taken from Google Maps which still shows the Taco Bell Restaurant clearly there. This is from the Galbraith side of the space.  When I moved here in 2008, that's the way the corner looked right up until last year when Taco Bell closed.  When I saw that it had closed I kinda groaned. We all know about urban sprawl.  The obsession with paving over and building on every bit of property till there's nothing natural left. Here's the intersection from the Winton road side:

Today however was a very different story.  The restaurant, parking, blacktop, the blight, was gone and in it's place, grass and trees!  I'm thrilled and amazed.  Progress, in the right direction!  I mean really, planting grass, trees, and shrubs?  Holy Hannah!!!  This is something to cheer about in my book.