MiCasaLoca: San Diego's Pickup trucks and wealth

Great Books I've Read

SHOBA NARAYAN: Monsoon Diary: A Memoir With Recipes
Once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down as I was transported to India through food and humor. Shoba also took recipes and simplified them for the non-chef, but don't read the book for the recipes...read the book for her humorous thoughts on life! (*****)
Erin Hart: Haunted Ground
Excellent mystery by a first time author, Erin Hart! She weaves a tale that doesn't send my stomach over the edge with adrenaline, but has enough to keep me wanting more. See blog, "Haunted Ground" for more details. (*****)
Bill Peet: The Wump World
Excellent Book for Kids and Grownups! It has a bit of sad-positive ending. (*****)
Alice Pope: 2004 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market)
This is probably the only sourcebook for writers and illustrators that's got everything listed. (*****)

July 28, 2005

San Diego's Pickup trucks and wealth

This is Free Spirit, the sister of the blogger. Madeline might enjoy thinking about this subject due to her husband's abiding affection for vehicles. So here goes for a day. I want to comment on the plethora of pickup trucks one sees here. Everywhere. Neighborhoods with $996,000 homes. Neighborhoods with $300,000 homes and chickens running around (chickens and horses are officially allowed in Poway, which adjoins some of the more "prestigious" neighborhoods that aren't ocean view). Is San Diego just more "American"? Is it the surfer/mountain/produce stand influence? Yes, there are BMWs and a few Mercedes and too many ads for plastic surgery to count, but then there are the pickup trucks. Same thing in Hawaii, but there I could see loading up the surfboards for an hour of fun, more easily than here, and the whole Hawaian cowboy thing (there were lots of cattle raised on some of the Hawaian islands when it was in that transitional stage)...course there were lots of ranches here in earlier times...)

I have more to say on the pickup-truck theme but don't have time to look at my notes. the girls are being too good.

I don't miss D.C. yet. I miss the whole Puerto Rico/Caribbean/African connection that the D.C. area sometimes has (people coming in to make a living/make a life/escape the Sudan,). I miss the wave of immigrants. I miss the thought that there's the possibility I could have taken Flamenco dance out in Reston, VA for the second time in 4 years (yeah, right, with a 2-year old and 4-year old!) I miss a bit of the diversity. There is some diversity here, but it tends to be more of the 2nd and even 3rd generation type, upper middle class or upwardly mobile, already established and without a hint of an accent, for the most part (of course except the "invisible" work force which I won't begin to get into, that is one conversation I'm not going to even touch).

Yes, I miss Puerto Rico a little and that side of things. Hard to explain since it really makes no sense.

People here could almost be anglicized Puerto Ricans. People in the busy throes of earning a living have time for a conversation, it's really really bizarre having come from Northern Virginia. People smile. People seem to want the good to work out. People even let you in in the traffic lanes and though they drive really fast,they seem to be human. Amazing.

The San diego area is just huge and has a very high population density, but there are things that are small-town and suburban. This is a combination of cute, good, and bad. thatwill have to wait until later for more explanation.

Of course I miss my relatives. However, for the most part I was missing them while living in Falls Church and separated by duty, responsibility, and all the things that keep us tired and prioritize our lives differently than we would have imagined.

I don't want to be journalistic, at least not today. Suffice it to say that everything has been too smooth so I'm on guard (am I just comparing to trying to get settle in San Juan, or what)? Everyone is doing great, Shalom is learning to swim, and how to read poetry that would transend all age groups' interests (especially nature themes). Call for a beautiful reading. Isabella is learning new ways to get in trouble and absolutely blow our minds.

Posted by Mary on July 28, 2005 at 02:35 PM | Permalink

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July 28, 2005

San Diego's Pickup trucks and wealth

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