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Ahh, the sweet sounds of Portsmouth summers have returned. As I sat in the square, trying to get a little work done this afternoon, I couldn't help but notice the constant din of construction. Well, I shouldn't say couldn't help but notice. It was more like, "Holy Shit. Why is it so damn loud out here! Is that man operating a jack hammer over there?"

One of the sources of the noise seemed to be from the all the sidewalk renovations they've been doing on Congress Street. I guess our wise city councilors felt there wasn't enough brick in this city so they had to remove all the asphalt from our walkways and cover them in brick too. But they aren't quite brick yet so the lower end of Congress Street is looking more like the Alley of Broken Dreams down by the decks. It's all dirt with random pieces of cardboard thrown randomly on the ground for people to trip over. Looking good Portsmouth!

Regardless of the noise, it is nice to see Market Square alive again, The long row of motorcycles is back along with the weekend warrior bikers that like to show how bad ass they are by drinking iced lattes at Breaking New Grounds. There are the trendy girls with the thickly rolled up jeans and the big sunglasses. There's the bohemians with their potpourri of musical instruments playing goofy hippy tunes, the cops hanging on the cruiser, looking at the cute girls through their tinted glasses. The hipster kids who weave in and out of traffic on their rebuilt Japanese bikes, the endless parade of strollers, the occasional dog fight that breaks out when their owners spend too much time gabbing with each other. There's the countless packs of teenagers playing hooky and the white collar folks sneaking out of the cube for a little afternoon sun. And don't forget the college kids and homeless folks and empty nesters and now this year, the campaign staffers. And I didn't even get into the different types that hang out there at night. Anyone seen the magician yet this year?

I guess the noise is just another fixture, like the horse and buggy was for a while, or the scaffodling on the tower. As much as you hate it while its there and wish it would just go away, when it is gone, there's a little part of you that wishes it was still there.

On second thought, no. That's total bullshit. No one is going to miss this damn construction. I'm sure it'll all be over soon-- around the time the snow flies.