The landscape is changing in many parts of Cabin Country. In this case, they closed the Farmington Diner, lifted it off the ground and are removing it from the premises as this photo shows.

Owners of this property and the one next to it have also removed a Mobil station, which makes me crankified because it's about the only one where I can charge gas within a dozen miles.

They say that the two businesses, just below the University of Maine, Farmington, have been removed to make way for a chain drug store.

Perhaps a pharmacy is necessary, as Farmington is growing now that school administrators are adding new buildings to the campus and builders are putting up more residences each year in Franklin County.

And I can't say I spent a lot of time hanging at the Farmington Diner. It was getting a quite rundown toward the end, because owners knew it was going to close anyway.

But as a matter of principle, I hate to see community institutions disappear. Or in this case, packed up on a flatbed and just driven into oblivion.

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