Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
By the time this column is published, I will be back from California.
As I write, I haven’t left yet.
You can make the drive to where I’m going, a few miles short of Los Angeles proper, in one hard day, which is what I intend to do.
I’ve got some old friends who make an annual visit worth the effort, while reminding myself of why I left the smog-tarnished Golden State in the first place.
As hot weather fades in our corner of New Mexico, it is just starting in the inland valleys near Los Angeles. I have one outdoor event to attend and my cell phone weather forecast says it’s going to be about 110 degrees. I am assured that afternoon breezes will make it all worthwhile, but I doubt it.
Breezes on hot days in the California inland valleys used to make me feel like a turkey in a convection oven.
Seeing some old friends is also worth getting back to the routine of standing in lines. I used to think Californians could not have fun unless they stood in line for it.
I’m planning on standing in line to get a table in a restaurant, get an In ‘n’ Out burger or buy just about anything.
A trip to Disneyland, for example, usually results in six hours of standing in lines to enjoy two hours or so of rides.
To many, many Californians, however, this rushing cacophony is home. The upside of crowds, traffic, smog, noise and frustration is a huge variety of things to do, new things to try and top-of-the-line entertainment and cultural experiences.
They would no sooner leave the Los Angeles area than many ranchers would leave a life that features working outside with no set hours, horseback riding, watching things grow and enjoying the light playing on the mesas at sunrise and sunset.
I spent my adolescence and early adult life in Montana and West Virginia, surrounded more by mountain valleys and forests than by cars and confusion.
Since then, I’ve spent more time in urban areas, but I never got used to crowds and rushing.
I can still go back there, however, to see people I’ve missed and even enjoy the faster pace for a few days, but I’ll still be glad to get back home.
Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: