Undeniably, things have changed.

But things always change. Fashion changes, the weather changes...even that high school crush eventually becomes just another face in the crowd. Things that were once smooth become rough; things that were once small become big; things that were once slow become fast.

Each week, one member or another mentions with a subtle sigh that The Clipboard isn't what it used to be. "Spongebob and Knots have vanished," they say, "and the topics are being invaded by single-sentence posts from single-celled brains." Some recall the early topics like "Will A Pine Tree Grow On The Island?" and "To Ang", then mumble that the Clipboard has no soul these days. Those long, heart-felt posts that kept them reading for hours have become fewer and fewer, and they ask, "What happened to the days when members seemed to really care about issues like 'Wind Turbines On The Island' or 'Our New School'?" Yes, many of the veteran Hawk Roaders have appeared to lose faith in the cyber-church they helped build, even as the parish continues to grow and the sermons multiply.

Like a village that explodes with prosperity and overcomes the initial obstacles and struggles of molding the new land, eventually the town-hall meetings become fewer and fewer as the villagers' opinions are addressed and discussed, and compromises are reached. The population grows, and the close-knit community becomes a little more crowded and impersonal. Before long, the town becomes a city, and you recognize almost no one on your morning stroll through the streets you helped shape. You pass familiar faces and make conversation...snippets of small-talk that may appear to hold little entertainment value to anyone listening, yet serves to remind each other of the intimacy of the past.

In a perfect world, everybody is clever, considerate, inspirational, inventive, and friendly. This world of ours, however, is not a perfect one. Like any community, online or in an atlas, the personalities of its citizens are varied and unique. Some express themselves diplomatically while others have short fuses; some can present their opinion with colorful phrasing while others have a simple style of language not always taken seriously; some ramble on for hours and some merely say a sentence or two. In those early days of The Hawk Road, when there were 30 or 40 members, they were all generally linked by word of mouth. They had the benefit of being roughly the same age, had similar views based on life experience, and were mature enough to say almost anything without fear of jeopardizing the values of the youths or elders that frequent the site today.

Over time, as word got out, our small can of similarly-shaped almonds slowly became a bucket of mixed nuts, and it didn't seem as private as it once did. Suddenly, it appeared necessary to compromise what you really felt and to tone it down for the sake of the new-comers. Yet everyone was undeniably excited that The Hawk Road website had taken off, and that interest was spreading. Some now complain that they have to read endless posts from "youngsters" and "gossipers" today, but there was a time when we all wanted to recruit as many members as we could. However, because The Hawk Road is, and always has been, an open community, these are things we had to accept.

In truth, if you picked random topics today that you'd presume wouldn't interest you, they would probably make for a good read as you scroll from post to post. Best of all, every word written on here comes from the thoughts of someone in our community, regardless of the content or writing skills. They are our neighbours, even though some spell poorly while others stray from the topic at hand with irrelevant rants. Sure, the excitement has levelled out for some of us, but as many probably notice, it has just taken off for others. And of course we'll always have Chachi's bi-monthly explosions to keep us talking.

The Hawk Road, at worst, is a convenient place to see what's going on around town from time to time. Advertise the car you're selling; check out the bowling alley gossip; get a Superfly weather update without looking out the window. Sometimes we're provoked with stupidity, but other times we may read a post that will stick in our mind for days. Though some feel the bird they nursed is sadly leaving the nest, as with everything in life we must adjust and compromise. By being a little more considerate and respecting that everyone has an opinion regardless of how stupid it sounds...well, we can not only learn to live with The Hawk Road, we can make it even better.

Things change, but so can we.

The Hawk Road