Thursday, October 16, 2008

Small Town

This past weekend, we took a trip to the central valley to help my grandfather celebrate his 90th birthday. And while Fresno California may not technically be a small town, it sure has the look and feel of the hundreds of small farming communities that line the U.S. 99 highway. As I sat as a passenger in the car as we dropped down out of the Tehachapi mountains, past the grapevine and down into the dusty fields of the valley, I couldn't help but think back to those family road trips that we use to take to visit the grandparents. I remember staring longingly out the window at the rows of fruit orchards, run down drive-ins, family-run hardware stores and outdated hamburgers stands; nostalgic for a way of life and time of place that I had never actually experienced. I'm still not sure what it was I saw in all of those dusty moving pictures, but I vividly remember the feelings that they brought me.

1 comment:

Strength is Victory said...

Have you read "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"? It's my favorite book about California, and it talks a lot about the Valley towns.

~Sister