Not too many years ago, I was riding a bus in a resort town in the U.S. where visitors from around the world arrive daily. I couldn’t help but hear the conversation because the two individuals engaged in discussion sat across the aisle from one another, and I happened to be sitting behind one of them.

“First time here?” Asked the local.

“No. I have been here many times over a couple of decades, but it’s been a few years. Had some circumstances that prevented me from coming. I can’t get over how things have changed in this country.”

“What do you mean?” said the local, trying to understand what seemed to have changed.

“Oh, it’s not just here, it is everywhere in America. Years ago, I could appreciate the American aesthetic – everything was high quality.”

“And now?” asked the local, probing.

“I don’t know … seems like America has lost a lot of that. Nothing or no one seems to have the same quality, if you know what I mean.”

The bus came to a rolling stop, and so did the conversation. The local extended his hand to the tourist getting off, “Don’t give up on us. Please keep coming. We need the tourism.”

Today, my pondering led me to this definition from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the aesthetic movement of long ago in America. “The period witnessed the flourishing of an artistic culture and lifestyle movement that also encompassed painting, sculpture, and works on paper; the proliferation of art publications, clubs, and societies; an intense interest in collecting and decoration; and the founding of the nation’s major art museums.“