got milk?

today, i learned that before the king of prussia mall was built, that area was occupied by a dairy farm.

okay, so really i learned this yesterday, but in the hustle and bustle of the conference and trying to get on the right train, it didn't really sink in until today.

i'll be honest, my reaction was one of genuine surprise when one of my co-workers shared this over our rushed, mid-conference lunch at a large table covered over with a cheap and crumb-coated table cloth. apparently she is old enough to be my grandmother, having graduated from high school in '58 (i had no idea she was almost 70!?!?!). she grew up next to, and would get her milk from, this dairy farm as a child, and she was able to describe the beginnings of the mall with startling matter-of-factness and a level of detail that you would think 52 years of mall existence, changes, and upgrades would erase. but (being a teacher, heh heh), she has maintained an impressive level of mental dexterity and specific memories that she lavishes upon others when the right opportunity presents itself.

as i mulled this new tidbit of information over throughout the day today, i began to realize that in all honesty, it shouldn't surprise me. when we first moved to the audubon/valley forge/king of prussia area when i was only 5, it was pretty much our neighborhood, 2 neighborhoods down opposite directions of the road, and lots and lots of fields and farms. everywhere you turned there were fields and farms. you couldn't spit without it landing on some kind of field. and as i grew up, so did our little suburban community. one neighborhood sprung up, and then another, and then another, like giant patches of dandelions after an extra rainy spring and plenty of neglectful weeding. i was accustomed to the idea of suburban sprawl; in fact, it was a concept that was entirely NOT new to me. suburban sprawl has been my life and my reality.

but when i think if king of prussia, i can't help but think of the mall. it's always been there. i was pretty sure that it was one of the things God made on the 5th day. it was part of my home's identity, and the thought that it hadn't always existed was- is!- hard for me to wrap my brain around. it was one of those things that i just assumed had always been, like cockroaches or the sun. and as i realized this about myself- that i was disbelieving that king of prussia could have ever been anything other than what it is right now at this moment- i began to feel very narrow minded. OF COURSE it wasn't always the second biggest mall in the country. OF COURSE people didn't always flock there for great shopping and yummy food. i just don't know how else to think of it. lots of people and full parking lots and awesome shopping and great restaurants are what spring to mind when i think of that place, and it's hard for me to roll my brain back in time and think of that place as rolling farm land where a little girl would stroll down the road in the morning to pick up the family's milk.

don't get me wrong, i have always been fascinated by the history of places- by how things used to be and the way life was once lived. i love driving by old homes and the cabins in valley forge and seeing pictures of european castles and imagining what used to be, the things that used to happen in those beautiful places that i can still see and experience. but this one was just so... personal. and abstract. king of prussia was always just such a given; when you hear those three words, you automatically think "mall". it was a weekend activity when i was little, a landmark when i learned to drive, a place to work when i had college summers off. understanding that this place used to be something in every way different and opposite of how i identify it now was difficult. it has started to change my perspective of the world around me. it's taught me to look deeper at the things i drive past rather than just thinking of them as i see them now, and it's made history and change and progress and development more real and meaningful to me.

i think i could open several more cans of worms with today's lesson, but my head is starting to hurt. it's not even really that big a deal, and i'm guessing many of you are shaking your heads at me. but the more i thought about what this woman told me, the more it shook my world. i wasn't upset that the mall used to be a dairy farm, it was that i was SO surprised to hear it. i should have said, 'oh cool!' and moved on. but instead i spent a full 24 hours rolling it around in my head and trying to make it concrete and tangible in my head. i think i may be talking in circles at this point.

just like you drive around in circles at the king of prussia mall looking for a parking spot.

52 years ago, you would have just been driving through a dairy farm.

got milk?