Around the county, a number of disasters have socked Americans in the gut in recent weeks. Whether it was the mighty force of nature hitting Oklahoma with violent tornadoes, the negligence of forethought with a fertilizer plant exploding and leveling the small town of West, TX, or the terror of extremists bombing the Boston Marathon, our collective expressions of horror have been uttered all too often of late.

We could call it the “Spring of Aghast”.

Although it in no way approaches the horrific nature of the aforementioned disasters, a small taste of the “Spring of Aghast” has touched my own community of The Boulevards where I am engaged as an Artist in Residence.

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013, we discovered that last year’s Boulevards’ art project had been vandalized at the hands of someone who apparently attempted to steal the very well anchored pieces.

Unable to simply pull them out, the thief broke 2 of the painted houses and knocked over others as they attempted to pull out the deep posts anchoring them. One of the broken houses was taken, but the others were still in place.

Like Moore, OK, West, TX, and Boston, MA, The Boulevards is a quality community that is full of good people. It is a safe neighborhood that is characterized by people who take pride in their homes and community.

It is not at all defined by this unfortunate act perpetrated by a goofball. In fact, we suspect that this was done by someone outside of the area.

Our motto is truthful: “The Boulevards: A Community of Creative People Who Care About Their Community”.

When disaster strikes, or when fools destroy the creative works of proud people, the first human response is emotional pain. It hurts and we can’t escape from the reality that our world has been assaulted.

After adjusting to the new realities of vulnerability and destruction, however, the next human response is to get creating and building, fixing what was broken and renewing our human commitment to creativity.

Not only do we fix-up what was broken, we make it better, and we allow our pride to drive us to doing more creative works that perhaps we would not have been previously inspired to do.

So to the goofball thief hoarding a broken green house in his or her home, I hope you are enjoying it. You won’t be able to share it with others, as everyone knows where it came from, and it has been reported to the police as stolen property.

Your little stunt has emboldened Boulevards residents to become more involved instead of scaring them into resignation.

We won’t waste our time trying to find you, as we have better things to do. Try it again, though, and you will be caught, as extra security will accompany future projects.

And there will be future projects – lots of them! I have been meeting with residents and we are making big plans for this year’s project. Stay tuned – designs and plans will be announced soon!

Follow activities in The Boulevards at our new blog and website!