Day 6 - 242 -- Population Explosion

Traffic has been picked up exponentially over the past few days. Far more people are in town and each seems to have a vehicle. My street has filled with parked cars. The grocery store today was a bit busier than usual, but not as bad as I expected. First year students moved into residences on campus today and upper years will be there tomorrow and Monday. Rental houses in town have been filling up, hence all the cars on my street. Along with more people comes more noise -- happy sounds of excitement for a new school year. Some louder music can create irritation even with me who loves music -- but I love it on my terms not as a constant background.

When the town population doubles in under a week, the change is noticed everywhere in town. the increase in humanity brings much disruption to all involved. full time residents see interruptions to their usual routines and the new crowd has much to adjust to being away from full time homes, too. New rhythms will develop for everyone as we move forward and find the new normal.

Lyrics of a song that came to mind this afternoon, describe a form of togetherness within a group. I've always enjoyed the harmonies of the group singing. Enjoy!

In Crowd -- The Mamas and the Papas