Ten Things Tuesday, My Edition

Mrs. Chili of The Blue Door, http://theinnerdoor.wordpress.com/, seems to have started the Ten Things Tuesday lists. Thinking it a splendid idea – a useful filler when the creative well runs dry – I am joining in. So here goes.

Ten Things I Like About Our Little Corner of the World

1. Family –

I am so grateful to be able to spend this time with my children and their families. As I mentioned before, Mamie and Igor have both matured into wonderful people – but the silly sibling squabbles they still indulge in (purposely, I suspect) give me a special, secret pleasure. It has been deeply satisfying to be involved with my grandkids. They are, naturally, the cutest things around. Bubby is your basic All-American boy, right down to the dusting of freckles across his nose; he is easy-going and laid back. Pi is 5 going on 20, a true in-your-face diva, and totally fearless. Mrs. Igor, Grandma T, MamiesMan, the many and various pets – along with friends - add greatly to the richness of our life here. First and foremost, of course, is GolfGuy – without his agreement to move here, who knows where I would be. Thank you each and every one.

2. Blue skies and red rocks and gray rocks and yellow rocks, brown, black, all colors of rocks -

The visual goodies are many and varied. I have 2 favorites, currently, that I watch for on the trip back from the BigTown. One is to the west of I-15 just before our exit (Mamie likes it that HER exit points the way to Zion and Grand Canyon National parks and Lake Powell) – it is a grouping of roundy mounds of red rock, pocked with intriguing holes, all very giggly-looking. The other comes into view as the state highway begins the long downhill slide past Purgatory – makes me think of giant ocean waves forever frozen in mid-roll. The play of light on the various formations constantly shifts and changes as the seasons progress and the sun moves across the sky, highlighting something new every time and every direction I look.

3. The cleanliness and lack of graffiti –

Rarely do we see trash on the streets and highways and even more rarely does graffiti rear its ugly head. A trip south to SinCity is a stark reminder of what we don’t have to put up with. But it will come – the locals don’t realize it yet, but when the economy begins to pick up steam and the in-migration to the area explodes anew, these unhappy problems of population growth will deeply affect all of our quality of life.

4. The availability and quality of medical care –

Given my recent history, need I say more? And now that it seems to be GolfGuy’s turn in the box for health issues, this high level of medical care assumes added importance.

5. Mountain time zone –

I like my evening news at 5 pm and the late news at 9 pm or even 10 pm and DWTS at 7 pm. How do people in the Eastern Time zone ever see the end of Sunday or Monday Night Football? I would be zonked out by half time. After over 30 years in the Pacific Time zone, Mountain Time took some adjusting on our part. Now it is “normal” and other time zones feel strange.

6. Purgatory –

The county jail has an official name, “Purgatory”. How great is that? And the green and white striped clad work gangs from there are largely responsible for the clean state of the local highways. Purgatory is located next to the county fairgrounds – don’t know if there is any significance in that.

7. The Village 4th of July celebration –

Small town and corny, but it does make my heart go pitty-pat, especially the grand finale of the fireworks display, following the always overly-long softball game against the neighboring village. And all the other local area parades – St. Pat’s Day, Peach Days, Pioneer Days, etc. – where junior and senior high school bands straggle along, local politicians shamelessly campaign, horses clop and poop, fire engines scream their horns, flags wave in the ever present wind, and piles and piles of wrapped candies are pitched to the swarming children. The very bestest part is enjoying it all in the company of my family.

8.Street numbering system –

100 North for the first street north from some fixed point, 100 South for the first street south, and so forth for East and West, progressively increasing as you move farther away from the starting point. When Mamie first told me about it, I thought it was section line numbers (shows my Kansas background) but she explained it to me later when she found out the system. Once you get the hang of it, it makes a weird kind of sense for an address to be 1900 West 600 North.

9. Use of “tending” for babysitting –

People here don’t say, “I’m babysitting kids tonight’; it’s “I’m tending kids tonight”. Somehow, “to tend” seems more apt than “to babysit”. All areas have their “localisms” – e.g., in Oregon, “costy” for “pricey”; in the Midwest, “pop” while the West Coast says “soda”; you stand “on line” in the east but “in line” elsewhere. “Tending” just particularly tickles my fancy.

10. The local Jack in the Box –

Back when I was making daily trips to the Big Town for various medical procedures, I got into the habit of pulling into a local Jack in the Box for a cold, delicious, fountain Diet Coke as a treat for the trip home. The nice young man who was frequently on duty when I made my stops soon came to recognize me, and we had many friendly little chats. A warm, human touch I needed at that particular time. The trips, for all reasons, have decreased to one or two a week, but GolfGuy and I continue the habit. If we are flying solo, we purchase a second one for the partner at home.

Some of the above items are the same old, same old; but I did try to come up with examples that are unique to here. It’s these little things that make any area special; and we need to occasionally remind ourselves of what makes life good.

I have drafted several different Ten Things lists. While the first few items leap readily to mind, I am finding it can be a challenge to come up with 10 for each. The process prompts me to really stop and think about the topic at hand. Try it – you’ll find it worth your time.