By Whitey Harwood

Iwas tickled pink when I read that I was invited to the open house for the West “Sides” Plaza renovation plans.

I wanted to go so bad, but it was my day to go out in the woods and look at stumps.

Rowan County Extension Director Amy-Lynn Albertson thinks the plans are really exciting. Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds said to begin investing in that facility, that’s pretty exciting.

Then when I read the quote by Edds that “This is something that will greatly improve the whole county’s quality of life,” it got me a little excited, too.

It made me feel so good, I ran outside to plant a tree, then realized I had on the wrong shoes. So I decided to take the dog for a walk through a grocery store, but he said he’d rather just stay here and drink. I thought his plan was a good plan, so I seconded his emotion.

After we completed our plans, it put me to thinking about that quality of life thing.

At first, I thought it might have something to do with smoking, then I remembered the county board was already awarded a “cup” for all the work they never put into that, so maybe it’s this.

Several years ago, Greg Edds stated, “Enough is enough. This will end.” He was talking at a press conference about the murder of A’yanna Allen.

I’m hoping after spending between $18.93 million and $25 million, the killing will end and the whole county can see an improvement in their quality of life. But people have been killing each other since Cain killed Abel, so that can’t be it, either.

Then I figured it out. With all the office space and meeting space and it being an agricultural center and all, I’ll bet they are gonna teach the “balloons releasers” to plant trees.

They can start with the Rowan County Department of Social Services, the Salisbury City Council and the Voices of Hope. You already have Commissioner Judy Klusman with her experience. So you wouldn’t have to hire an extra hand.

Now here are some amazing things to use the green space for: boycott the bags, ban the balloons, pass on the plastic, skip the straws, stop the styrofoam and taboo the tobacco. This is a climate change plan.

That will certainly improve the whole county’s quality of life, including the wildlife.

The only news I’ve read in the Salisbury Post lately that would qualify as improving anything is when Casey Parsons presented her plan to spend the rest of her life in prison. That didn’t only improve the quality of life for the whole county but the whole state, the whole country and the whole planet. Now maybe the other mother will stay home and quit releasing balloons.

Whitey Harwood lives in Rowan County.