Guest Post by Gayle
I moved to my community in Southern California in 1999. I wasn’t here very long before I recognized the high quality of life the citizens enjoyed; in fact, I was heard to murmur that I would be content here until I died. There is a lot of money (much of it medical) in our fair town, which is generously shared with the community in a number of ways, especially the arts, youth programs, and charities serving the poor. Generally speaking it is a peaceable and beautiful place despite the recent bomb factory that was uncovered here.
There have been a lot of changes in the past ten years. A chunk of land of several thousand acres next to our city but owned by the county was unavailable for development of any kind. That changed about ten years ago, and now the area is filled with unimaginative shopping centers, many large concrete warehouses (including Amazon’s two), large apartment complexes, and lots of traffic. This was preceded by the ripping out of productive orange groves. I am fortunate to live on the old side of town, so I can avoid this area unless I need my Target fix.
In the older neighborhoods, there are many mature and beautiful trees shading lovely lawns and flower beds. These make life much cooler and more pleasant in our very long and hot and dry summers. They also require a fair amount of water to maintain, and the drought has put pressure on our water supply. Last year most of us tried to reduce our water usage. I started doing laundry every other week and tried to significantly reduce my lawn and garden watering. Some people just let their lawns dry up and left them. Others paid landscapers to rip out lawns and put in desertscapes, some of which are quite attractive, especially if brown is your favorite color. Others tried the do-it-yourself route and they are not so attractive.
Continue reading “Big Brother Shows Up In My Front Yard”
