Urban Renewal

          The A-frame across the street from the Salvation Army Store has been many things.  In my memory, it was first a cleaners.  I seem to recall seeing lots of things in plastic - herrings hanging to dry.  I don't recall the name.
          Next, it was a nail salon.  It now had a sign.  Nails! it proclaimed with a bottle of polish to the side.  Strange, I never saw a car parked there.  The owner most likely lived within walking distance, but with no car in the lot, the place looked vacant.  In a town like this, there is something off-putting about a business with no cars in the lot.
          Two summers ago, the building hosted Hot, Hot, Hot Wings and the sign had a flaming chicken with bugging eyes in full squawk.  That is a chicken going ape because it was engulfed in fire.  Again, no cars in the lot and no visible people in the building.  It had such potential, but it seems no one wants to eat in an empty restaurant.
          Now, the place is Abracadabra Jail Bonds complete with unlocked handcuffs on the sign.  It's only three blocks from the county jail, but with a competitor on the same block as the jail, Abracadabra is surely doomed. I wonder what it will be next.    (2010)